God screws up.

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2017)

spoilers likely
Every once in a while, you need a movie like mother! The troubling beauty of mother! is its challenge to all the religions of the West. It turns the imagery of ancient scripture into a weapon against God. In the film, this desire of God to be worshiped is a clear sign that (He) is not perfectly self-satisfied. (He) loves us, yes, and needs us. In the movie, God's need for adulation leads to the destruction of (His) creation—that is, Mother Nature. mother! is like the book of Job—it questions the righteousness of God. And it is like the book of Revelation— it offers to reveal the future— in this case a horrible vision. mother! shows the hell that is waiting for us right here on earth—all of us, not just the bad guys— if we continue to the end of the path we are following. The movie casts much blame for this approaching catastrophe on the neediness of an excessively understanding and charismatic God. The film presents a vision of the end of humankind, but it fails, I hope, to convincingly lay blame on the goodness of God. More likely the end will come from a much more familiar demon. Imagine another movie in which God has retreated to the place where (He) glowers in silence, while the rowdy spirit generated by great piles of money devastates humanity—that humanity which is, in some ways, the pinnacle of (His) creation. But God is eternal, and as the movie suggests— there's always next time.