The exclamation point belongs there.

Rating: 6/10 (15 September 2017)

Mother! is more like Oh Boy! I knew this new one from Darren Aronofsky was going to be a rough one and give it time, that's exactly what you're going to get.
Aronofsky is the man behind such spiritual films as "Noah" and "The Fountain" and psychological thrillers like "Black Swan". You'll find both genres here.
Jennifer Lawrence plays the wife of a very well-to-do author played by Javier Bardem. If you're wondering if the age difference is mentioned, it is. I mean she looks like a child bride compared to him, it has to.
But anyway, these people are secluded in a house some place, and the silence that exists between them is deafening and its not just because the house creaks or because Bardem's writer has a case of writers block. It's between them.
And really what starts off this mystery even more is that an orthopedic surgeon played by Ed Harris and his wife played by Michelle Pfeiffer they just show up out of no where thinking the place is a bed and breakfast.
Bardem seems cool with them, but we're following this as the Lawrence character completely taken aback that Bardem is being so hospitable or that they are being so abrasively shitty house guests.
Part of where I think the marketing for this really gives you the wrong idea is that this is a bizarre dark comedy more than it is a horror movie. The first hour really is having to deal with worse house guests than Bill Murray in "What About Bob?"
The mystery is fairly engaging though mostly because you do feel what's missing between the Lawrence and Bardem characters and you're wondering if these house guests are filling it or making it worse.
At about the hour mark the question really does arise though of whether this movie is trying to say something or if it is something of a vanity project and to that I think the answer is basically both.
Aronofsky includes everything from religious and political allegory, the addiction and cost of fame, being in an emotionally abusive relationship, trying to raise children in such a volatile time as this, and there's so much more.
It's a lot and the last 45 minutes or so is somewhat effective in the downright brutal and disgusting imagery it shows, while at other times it really is just disgusting and you'll want to leave all together.
It's the jumble of things that makes it hard for me to recommend this movie because despite it being called a horror movie, this is more just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks kind of filmmaking.
That's not to say I don't admire the commitment, especially from the cast. Lawrence is perfectly confused and horrified while Bardem, Harris, and some of the most haunting work done by Pfeiffer in a while fill everything out really well.
But like I said, this is a movie more of ideas than it is horror. Those ideas are portrayed later on in metaphorical form as horror but I doubt it's what most people are going to be expecting and I doubt many others will see much point in wading through Aronofsky's many converging ideas.
So I give it 6 out of 10. If you guys liked this review, check out Craig James Review on Youtube for more.