Jennifer Lawrence is a blessing and a curse simultaneously for mother! The talented actress gets the camera stuck right in her face for most of this film, and she acts the hell out of this thing, which probably prompted the studio to release mother! to a wide audience. However, the movie is really an art film by the fascinating Darren Aronofsky, whose directing style will certainly NOT jive well with the common movie goer. Like Noah, mother! will certainly be fun to talk about, but perhaps only in a hateful way.
Mother (Lawrence) wakes up in the middle of a beautiful house in the middle of nowhere. She is married to Him (Javier Bardem), a novelist combating writers block. Their idyllic world gets invaded by a Man (Ed Harris) and Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer), who are fans of Him and refuse to leave until they receive what they want from Him, at the exasperated expense of Mother.
I have always admired Darren Aronofsky. Even in his misfires, the man is always making bold decisions. His sound design and editing for me put Aronofsky among the best at his profession; the movie opens with a walk through of the creaky house, uneasily putting you at east right from the beginning. There are many tracking shots through the house, slowly moving us with Mother as we are unaware like her of what will be around the bend. But Aronofsky’s master stroke is slow builds; the lazy opening sets a calm stage that grows and grows to an amazing master stroke in editing in the last 30 minutes, frantically dragging us with Mother through a horrific maze seemingly from hell. Storywise, Aronofsky employs similar tactics to his pacing, slowly dropping hints of dread through each awkward interaction between mother and someone. These interactions twist and build to a rousing (?, probably the wrong word) climax of events where legitimately horrifying things happen, but fit organically into the story he is telling so you just sit there, mouth open, amazed at how far the writer/director has pushed the story. mother! will be given many adjectives to describe it, but NONE of those adjectives will be boring.
Aronofsky’s projects usually require talented actors, which is why top talent usually ends up in his movies. Jennifer Lawrence proves again here why she’s one of our best actors working today. Much of the movie involves heavy closeups on her face, forcing her to react in great detail to everything going on around her. Grant it, there’s a lot of crazy stuff for her to react to easily, but she’s just as magnetic in small moments, when conveying quiet frustration, confusion, or some other small feeling via a batted eye, pursed lips, or something else beautifully subtle. Javier Bardem has to sort of play a cypher since much of the movie is filmed through Lawrence’s eyes, but he acquits himself well, emoting rage and compassion pretty easily. Michelle Pfeiffer, welcome back! The great actress takes a juicy role and sinks her teeth into it eagerly, giving mother! plenty of momentum for those slower early segments.
I know Darren Aronofsky’s movies rub movie goers the wrong way. In some ways I get it, his movies basically reject appealing to the base of moviegoers the studio wants to attract. But with that rejection we get a very well crafted story with a fascinating set of questions about creatives and their fans, female and male relationships, and the side effects of fandom. But serious question, how many people in thrillers choose creepy houses near nothing? Come on Darren, you can do better than that old trope….