"The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave" meets "Rosemary's Baby"?

Rating: 5/10 (20 September 2017)

My conjecture at what this movie is about is a question mark because I wonder even if the filmmaker knows what he has concocted. Above all else, you will have a hard time predicting what will happen next in this nightmare movie. You get the impression about midway that this film is playing upon a woman's fears after just getting married and later having children. It provides nightmare images from her point of view throughout, giving you a strong feeling that Jennifer Lawrence is just on some heavy meds.
It is hard to recommend this movie on it's face. It runs long, has some rather repetitive story moments, and provokes flat out laughter at some of the directions the story takes. One thing for sure, don't try to make sense of it. Jennifer Lawrence is a newlywed fixing up a creaky old house for her poet husband Javier Bardem. Bardem is well cast, because it's hard to read a guy who although seemingly well-intentioned, has a foreign demeanor. Hence the Rosemary's Baby connection. The husband has an agenda that leaves the wife all to her lonesome.
But then, a guest arrives. Then his wife. Then his two sons. Then other friends. It is like a Monty Python sketch. By the third act, this absurdity caused laughter to ring through the auditorium. Something I wonder if Director/Writer Darren Aronofsky really intended. What makes this movie watchable is the guessing game about whether the REAL freaked out person is Lawrence or Bardem. Lawrence is seen taking some kind of medication (or is it a potion?). We get some Lynchian imagery that suggests the house is alive(?!). Bardem becomes withdrawn as he suffers from writer's block.
There are fun moments along this creepy kooky ride, and only starts to drag near the end. I think some of the story could have been condensed, and find our way to the inexplicable explanation a little sooner. I guess what I am really ultimately trying to conclude is whether the director has a method to his madness, or just wants to toss together a bunch of unnerving scenes that play like your nightmare's greatest hits. Such as going to a formal gathering in your pajamas. Or someone taking your newborn baby and letting him get handled by an unruly mob. Or getting assaulted yourself.
Much attention is paid to the creepy old house. Perhaps it is only a manifestation of Lawrence? Or Bardem? Or his admirers that find God in his poetry? The ending only seems to partially explain. Perhaps also deliberately not revealing everything. Perhaps the director was just finding a bunch of annoying things that a self-centered artist can commit in a relationship.
Ultimately, the long running time and the moments of absurdity means you should probably wait until the DVD comes out.