Say what you will about Darren Aronofsky, he’s never been a director that shies away from making films that puzzle and test you. Since Pi in 1998 his works have always been mysterious – they are not the kind of films that comfort or enlighten. These are pieces of art that confront and task the audience with the the burden of working it out for themselves. Whether it’s making quite possible the most depressing film ever committed to celluloid with Requiem for a Dream, or winning Oscars with Black Swan, he’s a filmmaker whose reputation has been earned. A new Aronofsky film in cinemas is always worth getting excited for.
Jennifer Lawrence delivers a career best performance as ‘the Mother’, who lives in a beautiful wooden house in the middle of a field with her poet husband, a silently threatening Javier Bardem, who is simply known as ‘Him’. What follows is… hard to describe, to say the least. When Ed Harris and his wife Michelle Pfeiffer show up unannounced on their door step their lives are interrupted by an entire cavalcade of strangers and drama filling up their house. There’s a lot more to it than that but to try and recap this story is simply to list the things that happen. It’s not easily summed up or explained.
Mother! starts as a strange beast of a film. There seems to be a lot of dream logic in play and moments that hint at a slight divorce from reality, especially in how Bardem and Lawrence react to certain developments. This soon moves into genuinely unsettling territory with scenes and moments that defy belief.
Yet this isn’t nearly enough to prepare the viewer for the territory of unmitigated lunacy that Aronofsky pushes the final act into, which will astound even the most hardened film fan. This goes beyond simple blood and gore; this is genuinely shocking filmmaking that will leave many with eyes wide and jaws ajar as they sit flabbergasted that the film pushes as far as it does. The fact that a major studio financed this picture and furthermore that Aronofsky and co were able to convince them to go along with it, is genuinely astounding.
This isn’t a story or even plot driven film; you’ll leave with a lot more questions that you walked in with and it’s not clear if all of them have answers. It’s an experience which will be taken to the bosom of those wishing for something to stew over for a very long time, looking at the minutiae for some clues which might unlock this multi-layered puzzle. Think of films like Under the Skin, Upstream Color or even Aronofsky’s previous work Black Swan.
This is a film all about the mise-en-scène. It’s the performances, the camera movements which follow Lawrence at every turn, and the incredible set design of this beautiful house which linger in the memory. Aronofsky clearly knows his craft and he seems to bring out the best in everyone he works with.
Debates will rage and opinions will be split down the middle between those who think it’s brilliant and those who think it’s shocking, random and pretentious. While even its most ardent fans will have to admit that it’s flawed, Mother! is ambitious filmmaking at its best. Whether the film works despite the obvious craftsmanship and what it’s all supposed to mean might take a few months of reflection to even start to answer.
It’s confusing, it’s horrifying, but above all it’s memorable. If you like your cinema scary, strange, cryptic and ambitious this is a must-see.
Mother! is in cinemas from 14th September through Paramount Pictures.
