mother! (2017)

Genre: Horror / Thriller
Running Length: 2:01
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Kristen Wiig
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay: Darren Aronofsky

mother! was a very difficult film for me to sit through. It was maddening especially its last 30 minutes. There were many times during the course of it I just felt like shouting out angrily in the cinema hall, "WHAT THE F**K IS GOING ON?!?" This film reminded me of my non-appreciation of abstract modern art. Everytime I come across a modern art museum, I would give it another go - to try to understand the displays. But after 15 minutes or so, I would usually give up and just walk out.

The only difference with mother! is I can't walk out of it. Firstly, it's because I've never walked out of a movie hall before no matter how horrible the film was. But to be fair, whatever was unfolding in front of me was pretty captivating. There was a deep sense of dread throughout so I waited and waited for that release but it never did come.

Here's the plot. A young woman (Lawrence) lives with her much older husband (Bardem) in a decaying large home in the middle of nowhere. She took it upon herself to restore the house. One fine day, two uninvited guests (Harris and Pfeiffer) showed up at their doorstep and decided to stay in their home. And from then on, things just got more claustrophobic, bizarre and twisted.

So, is the film any good? Well, upon exiting it, I was prepared to hate it. But after a few hours to a day of reflection, I have to admit this movie stayed with me and definitely drove me to forums to find some kind of meaning to the many nightmarish images that was thrown at the viewers. Just like modern art, in order to appreciate it, I needed context.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead. Stop reading if you're intending to watch this movie. 

And when I found the context, my verdict is: I acknowledge Aronofsky's courage to make this film and appreciate Paramount for releasing it widely. I get what the director is trying to preach using allegory as an art form. But I cannot accept his take on God and His relationship with mother earth. That said, if he would have just excluded his lecture on Christianity but instead focused on the horrible ordeal on the "rape" of mother earth, I reckon it would be a much more powerful and accessible piece of art (albeit still a difficult film to watch)

RATING: 3/10