Retro Review: “Mother!” | Aronofsky’s wild, confusing parable of…something
For maybe obvious reasons I waited quite a while to watch Darren Aronofsky’s somewhat insane parable of, well, let’s just say, Christianity. I had read reviews that said it was impenetrable, others that said it was masterful.
After having watched it on Paramount+ in HD I would say. Well, I’m honestly not sure what to say. I think Aronofsky is a genius, and have thought so since I first saw the remarkable “Requiem for a Dream”. That brutal essay on addiction and betrayal, anchored by a career-making performance by the Ellen Burstyn really blew my mind. As did the extraordinary “The Fountain” which attempted to tackle nothing less than “Life, the Universe, and Everything” to coin a phrase.
Whale much?
One thing that Aronofsky does is divide critics and audiences. For example, the film that won an Oscar for the beloved Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”, had its fans (me, included https://bit.ly/3wLtnit) and its detractors. If being a great director requires that one have both supporters, and detractors, then Aronofsky must be great.
One film of his that nearly no-one didn’t love was the head-scratcher “Pi” about a mathematician that thinks he has found the numerical key to existence.
So, when I finally watched “Mother!” I did really know what I was in for. Or did I?
What just happened
Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence, both Oscar caliber actors (Lawrence having won for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Bardem nominated several times) play an un-named couple living in a strange house in an un-named part of, I think, the United States. He is an author and she is, well, his wife. Again, with Aronofsky nothing is that straightforward, and when another couple, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeifer, come to visit, things really begin to unravel.
First of all, “Him” (Bardem) must have invited the couple, because “Mother” (Lawrence) certainly did not. Or doesn’t remember inviting them. This would not be an issue, but from the moment they arrive they begin taking liberties with Lawrence and her relatively new household.
Are they going to stay the night, or leave after dinner? Or is this just going to be an all-night party that allows “Him” to re-gain the authorial mojo he has apparently lost, and left him stuck in with Writer’s Block?
Satanic cult much?
And that isn’t even the weirdest part of it. Others begin to show up, including the son of the character “Man” (Ed Harris) (and yes, the pun is intended) who apparently is worried that Dad is going to disinherit him. What has started out as a somewhat straightforward family drama gradually descends into a Pinter-esque battle of power and ego, with poor Mother seemingly caught in the middle.
Did I say that Mother is preggo? She is, and the potential risk to her unborn child of all of the domestic stress is almost casually referenced by Aronofsky’s puzzle-box of a screenplay. Mother hears strange noises emanating from the basement of the house, explores, and discovers some very strange passageways that lead to hidden rooms.
More and more people arrive, apparently having been told that there is a party at the house, and then things start to get very strange. It appears that Mother is bearing the child of Satan, or at least a very important child, and the “followers” who arrive are there to either kill the child, or protect it from being killed.
And now back to our regularly-scheduled programming
So here is where, if you are watching “Mother!” you are probably saying to yourself “well, I made it this far, I might as well see where this is going”. Yeah…
Where it is going, no spoilers, is a minor Apocalypse involving violent partygoers, a fire that threatens to destroy the house, and a desperate battle between the forces of good and evil. Is this an allegory? A Parable? Or just a confusing Indie horror-drama made by a crazy Canadian?
Perhaps all of this, and none of it. What it is is very well acted and very finely filmed. Multiple Oscar nominee Matthew Libatique’s camerawork is excellent. Mainly, it follows the increasingly frenetic action without being intrusive, and Isabelle Guay’s Art Direction enables the extraordinary evolution of the house into something resembling Dante’s Inferno.
If you love Aronofsky
I would say if you love Aronofsky you should love “Mother!”. If you aren’t sure, then, well, I can’t tell you whether you will. You might, and you might not. If, like me, you have a taste for ambiguity in filmic story-telling, then you might just like “Mother!”
Or, you might not. Available for rent or purchase on most streaming platforms in HD and 4K.
