Mother! Review – Spoiler Free
Mother! is a film which comes written and directed by Darren Aronofsky who some may know for his work on Black Swan (2010) or The Wrestler (2008). The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer. Mother! is a horror thriller film about a couple who live a peaceful life in their home, but much tension is created when a bunch of random guests keep showing up and visiting them there.
When I first heard of this film and saw the trailer initially, I was actually quite excited to see it. I love watching both Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in almost anything they appear in, so seeing the two together meant this was an instant watch for me at the cinema this week. Darren Aronofsky is a director I am quite familiar with, although I’m not a massive fan of most of his films, but do consider this to be his best one after watching it a few days ago, as I’m still thinking about it, even today.
Mother! is a hard to describe film because it’s difficult to not spoil things with the plot, which is better to be watched rather than told in a review like this. But I was incredibly impressed with the amount of symbolism and metaphors smashed into the narrative of this film. It’s not often that I see something in the cinema with such a large amount of rich content to explore and even less often that this is in a horror/thriller film. There’s a lot in here about what someone’s home is, the attention that fame brings, neglecting certain people or even just giving everything you have to strangers or other people out of love and really it’s insane. This movie is great because it will give you something to talk about for weeks after seeing it.
The acting is excellent in this all throughout the film. Jennifer Lawrence delivers an impressive performance and one that while I don’t think is better than some she’s done in the past, she’s still incredibly good here and had a lot of emotional moments to work through. While watching the film, I did really feel for her character and started to get almost the same anxiety she had when so many people kept walking around her character’s home. Javier Bardem is as insane as ever and his character is likely to frustrate a lot of people as he just keeps seeking the attention of these strangers, even at the expense of his poor wife and all of his possessions in his home. I also enjoyed watching both Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer who played the first of the strange guests to what I call ‘Javier’s nightmare house’.
The directing from Darren Aronofsky is excellent. Some people I think will find the pacing a little strange and might complain about things being slightly disjointed in certain parts and I understand if someone does. But I feel that this is actually a strength of the film, it’s got a strong horror aspect to it and it does in a way feel like your watching mother (Jennifer Lawrence ) have a nightmare. It does get insane and towards the end the tone gets darker and darker. Almost to an extent that I was starting to not enjoy the film at all. But right at the end, a certain plot becomes known and there’s strong symbolism there and once I realised what the film all meant I think it made the nightmare worth it.
It’s not a perfect experience all throughout. I do have some issues with the closeness of the camera on Jennifer Lawrence’s face all the time, it was like we were invading her personal space and were too close. I also didn’t really think any of the characters costumes were that impressive and to be honest they were a little too dull throughout the whole film. But other than this, everything else was nicely presented.
Overall I was incredibly impressed with Mother! This is in my view Darren Aronofsky’s best film. There is a richness of content within the narrative for those who like to analyse and discuss symbolism or metaphors in a film, which is something a little rare in 2017, but much appreciated. Both Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence delivered some impressive performances here and particularly towards the end I did feel for the mother (Jennifer Lawrence) and what she had to endure in this nightmare with her partner, him (Javier Bardem). Definitely go see this film on the weekend if you’re looking for a tense, uncomfortable thriller/horror experience. Even if you don’t like it, it will give you something to talk about for hours with your friends.
