The new Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, Pi) movie mother! (proper capitalization and punctuation there) is one hard to describe flick. It’s certainly unlike anything you’ve seen before even if it has some themes, ideas, and references to other films. Describing the plot is beside the point since the movie is more about its themes and subtext than it is “about” what’s going on on screen. Yet everything that “happens” in the film is understandable, if a bit mad. You won’t know WHY things are happening but you’ll certainly understanding that something IS happening (well, except maybe at the end).
This movie will be a tough one to watch and analyze. I can fully believe that some people just won’t get it, some will get it and love it, and some will get it and hate it. I loved it and I got it… most of it. Still unsure about what a lot of the imagery meant and it might all come together on a second viewing. Hell, it’s possible some people will see it is a dark comedy full of absurdities you have to laugh at just because things go so haywire. Others may find it disturbing… others both. Some might just be bored.
The basic story – which isn’t what the movie is about – involves a married couple living alone in a house far from the maddening crowds. Javier Bardem plays a washed-up writer trying to get his spark back while Jennifer Lawrence plays his much younger wife who is busy fixing up the house (which was Bardem’s when he was younger but it burned so she has a lot of work to do). Into their home comes a man played by Ed Harris… then his wife (Michell Pfeiffer)… and then more people and more people and things start getting out of hand. Jennifer Lawrence’s character is too passive to combat the crazy stuff that keeps coming. If there’s an alternative title to the film, it might be Hell is Other People.
On the other hand, part of me thinks this movie should be called The Introvert’s Nightmare. Or possibly the Retail Worker’s Nightmare. Huge swaths of this movie feel like the dreams I started to have after leaving retail… you want to close but customers keep coming in and you can’t do anything to stop the flood. You can scream at them, push them, but more keep coming under the half-close gates.
The movie also feels like Rosemary’s Baby… I’m not saying it has Rosemary’s Baby’s plot, but I’m saying it has that sense of isolation and powerlessness and paranoia that movie invoked. The more things that happen in the house, the more anxiety and frustrated you feel for the main character. She can’t get away from all these people either controlling or just outright ignoring her.
Yet it’s not just about the people… there’s a lot of visual imagery about the house itself. At these points, the film feels like a David Lynch movie where reality might be taking a back seat. The imagery is suspect but we do see it. Is it happening? Is it a sign of insanity?
The first half of the movie feels like the movie should be called Jennifer Lawrence Walks Around a House… and that’s not an insult. The movie is doing something interesting with its use of close-ups, with following the characters through the set, the sound design of the house rumbling and the wood floors groaning. It’s a pretty impressive piece of film-making.
But it ain’t got nothing on the final half hour where the movie just goes insane. It’s incredibly masterful film-making that depicts absolute madness but manages to keep it all reined in visually. It’s chaos incredibly well-filmed. All credit to the people who made this film. Whether or not the story or themes are good, bad, or indifferent, the actual art of cinema is really on display.
Now, there’s a question about the film is about. You can take it at face value for awhile… but that ultimately can’t be right. You can take it as a metaphor for another story and that seems to work (mostly). Or you can take it as a depiction of madness or wish-fulfillment as told from the POV of someone who is neither mad nor having wishes fulfilled. You can look at it as a story about a woman with low self-esteem who keeps getting steam-rolled by her much more successful and emotionally abusive husband…
There are some things that happen in the film that are VERY disturbing. However, it’s not exactly the horror movie the advertising suggests. It’s often a very slow burn and the events that happen are there to crank up your anxiety more than your fear. If I said it wasn’t even a horror movie, that might just be a spoiler. I’m not sure. But be forewarned, the film does “go there” in some sequences – a little beyond what some folk might be willing to tolerate.
But wow did I dig this film. I’m not 100% sure all the events occur (assuming they actually DO occur) will hang together on a second viewing. But that also depends on your interpretation of what’s going on in the first place. The film looks great and is very well acted. I can’t say for sure if you’ll like it, but I can say you’ve probably never seen anything like it.
Score: 90