mother-load!

Rating: 8/10 (22 September 2017)

I felt as lost, baffled, confused and astonished as Lawrence's nominal character throughout the film. I tried to hold on to any kind of narrative sense or to any parallelism to previous films in an attempt to get a hint of where this was going. It is by the time the film enters its overblown third and final act where all logic, common sense and rationality seem to go out the window, that I realized that this is a) no ordinary film b) no ordinary narrative and c) its divisive reception is being supported by all the wrong reasons.
I've heard and read the words pompous, pretentious and conceited thrown around senselessly. I don't think mother! is any. The fact that this film is headlined by Lawrence pulls perhaps the wrong audience for this particular piece; but if an audience is pulled to a film expecting a product more akin to the star(s)'s previous work is an error that is all but uncontrollable, the finger of blame though should be pointed at the studio itself for selling a film for something it is not. Make no mistake, mother! is not the traditional horror film nor a suspenseful film. It is yes a scary allegorical and metaphorical film, in a genre of its own that entices - as it well should - split reactions and discussions. It is perhaps more of a discussion piece rather than a wide release audience appealing film. As thought provoking, visual and emotionally violent as it is, the film is a brutal exercise that is getting the attention for that misguidance. I truly hope that Aronofsky's latest gets all the attention, discussion and care it deserves, perhaps in time with a cult following an audience that wants to watch it, debate it and either praise or diminish it with substantiated arguments.