Mamma Mia !

Rating: 5/10 (19 June 2018)

Sometimes, it's a thin line between smart analogy and wasting everyone's time and, if I am honest, I think "mother!" did too much of the latter to justify the former.
The plot, such as it is, revolves around the titular mother, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is the young wife to a brilliant poet who is suffering with writers block (Javier Bardem). Mother spends her life painstakingly restoring their home following a fire. Her peace is destroyed by two characters, played by Michelle Pffeifer and Ed Harris who are a married couple, welcomed into the house by the Poet, who immediately start undermining mother and ignoring her requests and boundaries. The film escalates from there.
Let start with the one unquestionable part. The performances from all the cast are great. It feels like a stage play, indeed the 3 months of rehearsals must have made it feel like that to them. Cinematography and editing are excellent too
I can understand why people have hated it, particularly if you were anticipating a more traditional horror film.
The issues are with the wholly metaphorical plot. Being honest, I did miss the principle idea about it being a mother earth and the incomprehensible damage that we are doing to it, despite how painfully obvious it seems once it's brought to your attention. Other ones I did pick up on though, the parable for Christianity and as a treatise on creativity that other have mentioned. I did think the initial scenes were about having children . . . though I seem to be alone with that one. I have to admit, I'm still thinking about the film a couple of days later, which I probably a good sign, but can I say that I was genuinely entertained whilst I was watching it ... no, not really.