Review of mother! (2017) by Herman K — 24 Sep 2017

Aronofsky's latest religious-themed misstep starring his latest flame and several well-known faces, of which Bardem (in the male lead role) is onscreen more than just the first act.

I won't bother to recap the plot...that's been done elsewhere many times over already. I will give some reasons as to why this film is polarizing viewers so decidedly. The biggest of course, is poor marketing.

Mother! is certainly not a horror film, nor a psychological thriller. I did not read up on what it WAS all about before viewing; I only knew it was directed by someone whose work I enjoyed and took seriously in the past, until the awful and misguided "Noah.".

Aronofsky's latest dream-like work is an allegorical tale...a present-day retelling of the Biblical tales of creation, destruction, rebirth, more destruction, rinse and repeat. It's also a cautionary tale of where we are as a species, where we're heading. Also it's about climate change. And stuff bleeding, dams bursting, we're all gonna die and deserve to!

Stop right there...people don't pay good money to see a cute actress like J-Law starring in a fire-and-brimstone sermonizing freak-out. Look no further as to why this is flopping, financial-wise. Subtlety would have served this film well; if you repeatedly beat viewers over the head w/ your message they'll tune it out.

Mother! suffers by not offering impatient or unaware viewers any hints as to where the film is going. Things begin in a static "Funny Games" or "Knife In The Water" fashion; suddenly the first couple visiting the lead couple is multiplied over and over again until the over-iced wedding cake topples.

Now, if you're aware that the director meant for the first act to be a take on Old Testament creation myths, you'll understand the point of a lot of what's happening. But having said that, the frenetic and nightmarish pace of what's shown will be jarring and disorienting.

The second half is even more outlandish; after a brief respite where the Him and mother couple seemed to have patched things up...boom, bang, boom we're back in Weirdo-land territory. All this and World War Seven; who could tell what all the mess going on is about, once that grand old house starts filling up w/ random people committing atrocities and being abused begins all over again.

The second half is supposedly New Testament gibberish brought to life, as well as that climate change mantra again. To my eyes, and trust me I've seen far weirder and more bizarre than this heavy-handed and hectic film, mother! looks like a jumbled-together hodge-podge of flaky activity.

The acting is just fine from everyone. The direction (particularly of the randomness and carnage) is first-rate to be sure. But the story itself...boy, did someone need to tighten things up on that front. Too clever by half to show us something fascinating; mother! is more like a motion-picture version of those art exhibits everyone gawps at but never fully grasps or can make sense of.

Mother! is a very pointless film, when all is said and done. Lots of R-rated disturbing imagery and in-joke references. Yes, the Bible itself is full of such images and stories; so why create a pastiche of them movie-style?

Mother! is the kind of film Ken Russell would have directed w/ much flamboyancy in the 70's had he the inkling and budget. But unlike Aronofsky's latest bit of foolishness, he wouldn't make wacko religious tomfoolery the center of his story. Aronofsky seems caught in a bad loop, lately. He needs to come up w/ an idea again that puts characters in situations again worth watching and discussing, and not because "it was so weird, did you see that?".

Casual viewers may be upset by infant cannibalizing, but those long familiar w/ Monty Python's The Meaning of Life will just roll their eyes at this trippy and silly nonsense. mother! has no appeal to anyone, save for the pretentious crowd ("I loved it...you didn't? You must not get it nyah nyah nyah.").

No, no, no. We get what the "point" was; we just prefer films to be of interest more for just odd happenings and ideas unfolding.