United By Pop received a free copy of mother! in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are our own.
‘mother!’ has come under fire in some reviews, but this isn’t one of them. Yes, this is a movie you have to pay attention to, but it’s totally worth it once you get your head around it.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky who also worked on ‘Black Swan’ and ‘Noah’; ‘mother!’ sees Jennifer Lawrence (mother) and Javier Bardem (Him) as a married couple whose tranquil lives are interrupted when a man mistakes their home as a bed and breakfast.
Soon, we learn that ‘Him’ wrote a very successful book but is now struggling to write a follow-up. In search of inspiration, ‘Him’ invites the man into their home and lets him stay with them. Although this makes ‘mother’ feel uncomfortable, the man is made to feel welcome in their beautiful home that they’ve spent months making their own. The next day the man’s wife arrives at the house, closely followed by their two sons who have a fall out of epic proportions!
After this, things go from bad, to worse and downright weird. This is one of those films you’ll watch with scrunched up eyes – you’re not too sure what’s going on, but you can’t bring yourself to look away.
If you look up explanations online for ‘mother!’ you’ll be met with hundreds of reviews citing the fact that this is a metaphor for the Bible. If you’re not religious, don’t worry. This film is packed with analogies relating to the Book of Genesis, but it doesn’t really matter if you don’t link the two. There’s enough build, intrigue and the feeling of confusion and anxiousness to keep you glued to your screen.
‘mother!’ certainly isn’t for everyone, it’s unique and worth praising for being just that. In fact, it might just make your head explode… one way or another.
‘mother!’ is available to buy in the UK and the US now.
Featured image courtesy of Grapevine Digital