One of the most divisive and controversial films of recent years, mother! was the peak of Darren Aronofsky’s bravura filmmaking. It can be seen as a metaphor for a number of different things – Earth, religion, Aronofsky’s own view of dating and motherhood – and whichever path you choose, the metaphors are overtly obvious. mother! is loud and annoying and in the end crosses moral lines many will not be okay with. I am surprised to see it so high on the list, which I think speaks to the passion of it’s supporters, and I am one of them.
The imagery and sound design is sometimes calm, sometimes out of control and sometimes legit crazy. What keeps the film spinning are the familiar faces. It’s surprising to learn Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson and Kristen Wiig agreed to be a part of this. Keeping this carousel grounded is a bruised performance by Jennifer Lawrence and the quiet menace of Javier Bardem as he on-camera husband and putting herself into the hands of Aronofsky, who she was dating at the time. The film stays so close to her that there’s an emotional immediacy for her surreal situation and a lot of mystery to the people that intrude on her life. A lot of interesting decisions, but ones that unprepared audiences would and did reject.
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