mother!

“Seeing is believing.”

I was attracted to mother! from the first time I saw the trailer. I’m always interested in new horror films, Jennifer Lawrence is great, and the teaser gave just enough detail to make me wonder what this movie was going to be about without giving away any real details of the plot. That being said, there isn’t too much of a solid plot, and the trailer did absolutely nothing to give away any details of this film.

I went into this experience thinking it was going to be horror. It truly was an ‘experience’ too – the action hit the ground running starting with the first frame. At no time is the setting or plot described, nor do any of the characters have names, but by the first fifteen minutes or so this is what I figured out: a young woman (Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook) and her husband (Javier Bardem of Skyfall and No Country for Old Men) live in an old house in the middle of nowhere. He is a writer, she spends her life renovating the house. The audience gets to observe this couple for a while and we learn two important plot points: the husband has lost his previous wife to a fire that devastated the house they currently live in and the wife wants to have a baby. One morning a guy (Ed Harris of The Truman Show and Apollo 13) shows up thinking their house is a bed and breakfast. The husband immediately welcomes him in and this is the start of the most insane turn of events.

The audience follows the wife throughout the movie. More and more people show up, events escalate at a pace that is almost frighteningly realistic and then all of a sudden much to fast, and the woman reacts in a perfectly rational way. Every time something weird or unsettling happens she responds just as I would have were I in her position. As I was watching this film, I couldn’t help but picture what I would do in a situation like that. The relationship between the husband and wife transforms before viewers’ eyes and, even though we weren’t given so much as a name, I felt a connection to those characters.

Jennifer Lawrence does a fantastic job of creating realism in an otherwise abstract world. The setting and initial situation are mundane enough to lull the audience into a sense of security. We’ve all seen movies with a husband and wife working through their problems. It started out in such a familiar way, and kept returning to that feeling of normalcy. Each situation the couple finds themselves in almost seems plausible and then spirals out of control so quickly you’ll find yourself almost wanting to go back and ask, “Wait, when did this happen?”.

This movie shook me for a few days after seeing it. I found myself telling people about it and using phrases like, “I can’t explain it, but you just have to see it.” I was entirely engrossed in what was happening when I watched, I was shocked by some things I saw, and after it was over I was interested enough in what had happened that I decided to read up on the production of the movie. The director expressed that the plot was an allegory for a well-known story and situation. I won’t mention it here, because I really enjoyed watching mother! with no knowledge of that connection and then discovering it later on.

If you are a fan of strictly horror, mother! might not be the movie for you. It seemed like an expression of art, with wonderful acting, chilling visuals, and a deeply disturbing set of events. If you are looking for a psychological thriller or a slasher flick, this is not it. I was reminded of Antichrist (2009) with Willem Dafoe – both films took raw, human emotion and fear and twisted it to make the audience uncomfortable. There is gore, and extremely disturbing imagery, so if you are not a fan of that stay clear.

Rating:

Fool on the Hill:

I would give mother! three and a half popcorns. It’s hard to pinpoint who would like this type of movie, but there’s no denying that it is creative, the acting is well done, and it’s a beautiful looking film. It left me unsettled and eager to decompress with someone about the details. I’d recommend giving this movie a try, and look up what Director Darren Aronofsky shared about his inspirations after you’ve seen it!

Trailer:

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