Darren Aronofsky’s mother! is equal parts exhilarating and frustrating, sometimes simultaneously. It is the most daring, audacious, controversial, “out-there” studio picture since, well, Paramount’s and Aronofsky’s own Noah back in 2014 – a film I greatly enjoyed but others I know hated immensely. That one excitingly merged Biblical theology with Aronofsky’s own philosophy and conventional Hollywood blockbuster storytelling to craft an avant-garde blockbuster that made a lot of heads turn during that spring. Now he has returned to perhaps his most divisive film yet. From its bizarre opening shot to its final frames, Aronofsky never disguises that he doesn’t give a damn what his detractors think.
A woman (Jennifer Lawrence, very good here) wakes up in her empty bed; she calls out to her husband (Javier Bardem), an author searching for inspiration. They live in an idyllic countryside home, in the middle of a vast field, greenery popping out over the horizon. Peacefully they live, until their lives are interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious old man (Ed Harris), and subsequently his wife (Michelle Pfeiffer). The woman is slightly unnerved by the strangers’ presence, but the husband allows them to stay, hoping that their experiences will inspire him to complete his work. That’s when things start spiralling down into an aggressively surreal and horrific nightmare – one that forces the viewer to think for themselves and deal with it.
Aronofsky, a master of unsettling audiences, here employs the Black Swan approach to its most infuriating; dizzying extreme close-ups of Lawrence’s anguished face as she gets increasingly tortured throughout the film is complemented by DP Matthew Libatique’s chaotic whip-pans and Andrew Weisblum’s quick-cut editing for an experience that may prove to be too “in-your-face” for most. Even Johann Johannson’s minimalist score subtly undercuts the not-so-fantastical terrors that are unfolding on the screen, making the whole experience all-too-visceral. Major spoilers ahead, so I’d cut short and say that this is a film made by a real filmmaker, with his trademark style all over the place, proving that auteur theory is alive and well even in today’s preference for lower-budgeted indie-VOD-Netflix cultivation for daring fare as well as the farm-manufactured CGI spectacles of studio-driven superhero/CGI/sequels/prequels/reboots/remakes. This is one of the year’s very best films.
[☆☆☆☆½] out of [☆☆☆☆☆]
SPOILER SECTION:
As things get increasingly freaky, Aronofsky’s fetishistic use of Biblical allegory masks his concern for humanity’s future. In my opinion, one could say that the author, represents God the creator who seeks to invite Man and Woman (Adam and Eve) to enter his idyllic home (the Garden of Eden) so that he can get inspired to finish his Word (the Gospel, Bible, etc). However, the woman (Mother Earth) is concerned of the couple’s presence, fearing that they will cause a disturbance in their home (mother visualizes a heart rotting away sequentially each time the house is violated), ultimately proving her correct after they accidentally break a cherished item of the author (eating the Apple). How this leads to a Cain and Abel plot turn, an impromptu wake and house party, a riot and full-blown war, God’s word and love taken completely out of context by His people, and a claustrophobic compression of the Book of Revelations, I will not reveal any further. Then again, this could also be an allegory of celebrity culture and how far gone we expect from entertainers, to the point of cultist fandom and outright vilifying them as we find out that, *gasp* they are just like us! It works both ways.
This is no accident or by-product of a deranged mind. Aronofsky’s film purposefully explores the selfishness of man, how far gone they have taken both the planet they live on for granted, and how religion can be grossly misunderstood to unbearable heights. It is a plea for help, and Aronofsky shows it by doing what he does best – by shock and awe – mostly shock. This no doubt will cause a lot of audience members to walk out in disgust, particularly a gruesome scene involving mother’s new-born baby that represents the Baby Jesus who, as well all were taught, died for our sins. Aronofsky’s brilliance is that he does not hold back and follows through completely on the worst possible implications of his allegory, then ends it on a remarkable note of hope, however somber and maniacal the last hour increasingly became.
This is one hell of a film, the kind that I thought wasn’t possible to be made today. It left me slack-jawed. It is a film that deserves to be admired, hated, discussed, damned… and all Aronofsky the provocateur had to do is to sit at the back end of the theatre hall and smirk to himself as he watches the madness unfold both on-screen and in the audience. It is not a perfect film – some of the editing and cinematography may work a little *too* well with some trimming, but it is undoubtedly a work of maddening, infuriating genius, and the cinema world is all the better for it.
CoxStar RAW 