MOTHER! (2017)

Studio:       Paramount Pictures
Director:    Darren Aronofsky
Writer:       Darren Aronofsky
Producer:  Scott Franklin, Ari Handel
Stars:     Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Stephen McHattie, Kristen Wiig

Review Score:

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Summary:

A troubled woman’s quiet life is upended when her husband opens their secluded home to a series of peculiar strangers.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

In the ruins of a secluded country house destroyed by fire, acclaimed poet Him places a delicate crystal on a small pedestal. The house magically reforms to its pre-fire state while a pile of ashes in their bed becomes Him’s wife Mother.

While Him struggles with writer’s block, Mother continues ongoing renovations inside the home. Mother repeatedly suffers from visions of a beating heart within the house’s walls as well as abdominal pains she soothes with a yellow medicine.

An unidentified orthopedic surgeon shows up at the door unexpectedly. Having mistaken the house for a bed and breakfast, the man makes fast friends with Him, who invites the man to stay overnight despite Mother’s reluctance to have a stranger in their home.

The man becomes fascinated with the crystal displayed in Him’s study. Him explains that he lost everything he had in a fire when he was younger, and the crystal was the only thing that survived. Him adds that after he met Mother, her love breathed life back into every room of the reconstructed home.

In the middle of the night, Mother finds Him attending to the man as he throws up in the toilet. Him uses his hand to hide a deep scar on the side of the man’s body. Upset over his smoking inside the house and concerned about his constant coughing, Mother purposefully knocks the man’s lighter behind a piece of furniture intending for it to get lost.

The man’s wife arrives the following morning. Him invites the couple to stay as long as they want. Mother is made immediately uncomfortable by the way the woman treats the house as her own as well as her intrusive commentary about Mother’s marriage.

Mother discovers that the toilet is clogged with what looks like a small creature. She also finds a book jacket photo of Him inside the couple’s luggage.

When Mother tells Him about the photo, Him reveals that the man confessed he was an obsessed fan who wanted to meet him. Him goes on to say that the man is dying and he wants to indulge the man’s dream of meeting an inspiring idol.

The couple accidentally breaks the crystal in Him’s study. In frustration, Him balls his hands around the broken shards, causing his palms to bleed. Mother goes to kick out the couple, but finds them having sex in the guest bedroom.

Enraged over the incident, Him boards up the door to his study to prevent anyone from getting inside. Mother attempts to kick out the couple a second time, but the woman dismisses her.

The couple’s two sons show up unexpectedly to argue about the man’s will with their parents. A physical fight erupts among all four men. The oldest son ends up fatally wounding his younger brother before fleeing the house. Him helps the couple get their injured son to the hospital, leaving Mother alone.

While cleaning up the blood, Mother finds a slit in the floorboards that looks like a bloody wound. Mother follows the hole to the basement where a crumbling wall reveals a hidden passageway. Mother goes back upstairs and has a cryptic encounter with the couple’s oldest son before he vanishes again.

Him returns to report that the other son died at the hospital. Later that evening, the couple returns along with numerous other guests. Him informs Mother that he told the couple they could invite friends and family to the house to mourn because they had nowhere else to go. As more people arrive, guests become increasingly intrusive and dismissive of Mother. When two guests bounce on a countertop and cause a water pipe to break, Mother finally snaps and kicks everyone out of the house.

Mother and Him argue about their ongoing relationship issues. However, their confrontation turns into passionate sex.

In the morning, Mother tells Him she can feel she is pregnant. Him is immediately inspired to write.

With Mother several months pregnant, Him finishes his latest work. Mother has a revelation while reading the poem. Shortly after, Him receives a phone call of praise from his publisher. Mother notices blood on the nursery room rug where it was placed over the strange slit in the floor.

While Mother prepares dinner, a large crowd of press and adoring fans shows up on the porch looking to speak to Him. The crowd gradually increases until many of them start entering the home. Their intrusive behavior becomes more aggressive until several strangers start stealing items as keepsakes and turning violent against each other.

The escalating chaos evolves into a series of milieus where political protestors are executed, soldiers battle, and the house morphs into an explosive warzone. Mother reunites with Him amidst the madness as she goes into labor. Him breaks into his study and barricades himself inside with Mother.

The chaos outside the study quiets after Mother gives birth to a baby boy. Him finds gifts left outside the door by the crowd. Mother tells Him to make everyone go away. Him tells Mother he doesn’t want them to leave. Mother refuses to let Him hold their baby.

When Mother falls asleep, Him takes the baby from her and presents it to the crowd. Mother is horrified when she witnesses the enthused throng killing her baby and eating its flesh. Mother grabs a shard of glass and begins killing several of the zealots. The crowd turns violent, brutally beating Mother and tearing at her clothes until Him intervenes.

Him tells Mother they will have to find a way to forgive everyone. Mother screams “no,” which causes the house to crack. Mother claws at Him’s face, retrieves the man’s lighter, and races to the cellar.

Mother breaks open a blood-like oil tank in the exposed passageway. Him asks her to stop. Mother responds that she always loved Him, but he gave everything away. Mother ignites the liquid, causing the house to explode and consume everyone in the subsequent inferno.

Unscarred by the blaze, Him carries Mother’s charred body through the fiery ruins. Him tells Mother he is taking her back to the beginning. Mother asks Him to let her go instead. Him makes one final request for Mother to give him what love she has left. Mother allows Him to tear open her torso and take out her heart. Doing do causes Mother’s body to shrivel. Him unravels Mother’s heart to reveal a crystal inside.

Him places the crystal on the pedestal in his study. The house reforms and the cycle begins again with a different woman in Mother’s place.

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Review:

Take a look at Metacritic’s collection of numerical ratings for “mother!” (that will be the only time I kowtow to the snooty insistence of referencing the title with a lowercase ‘m’ and exclamation point).  What does it mean that The Los Angeles Times, Austin Chronicle, Time Out, and several other outlets assigned a score of 100?  Are they deeming “Mother” to be flawless, on par with the all-time classics, and/or a fulfilling endeavor that any appreciative audience must experience lest they surrender their film fan card?

Probably not.  In all likelihood, these instances of perfect praise only tell the tale of the person who wrote the review.  Before you counter with, “doesn’t that go without saying,” what I mean to express is that scores aren’t always a reliable gauge for what you want to know to be an informed individual.

Although I too am guilty of letting personal preferences color scores to support my tastes, I don’t see how that approach does anyone any objective good where “Mother” is concerned.  100 is a ridiculous ranking, even if you agree with the critical acclaim.  Zero is invalid too, no matter how much hate the movie may inspire.  “Mother” is such a polarizing piece of auteur experimentation, the only fair score that accurately reflects the film is an impartial 50/100, because it’s as likely that any given person will love it as much as s/he might loathe it.

Let’s operate under an assumption that you came here looking for advisement regarding whether or not “Mother” would be worth watching.  Anyone can estimate the sort of experience in store simply by looking at stories surrounding the theatrical release’s rocky reception.

“Mother” is one of currently less than 20 movies to receive an embarrassing ‘F’ CinemaScore.  We can subjectively argue what quantifiable reflection, if any, this is of the film’s general merit.  Regardless, ‘F’ essentially tells us that everyone interviewed for the multiplex equivalent of a political exit poll expressed complete dissatisfaction, perhaps because marketing misinformed expectations, or because the movie simply sucked.  Either way, one can conclude that “Mother” has next to no mainstream appeal, as low box office returns also proved.

In the wake of this commercial bust, Paramount Pictures’ Megan Collier lamented to The Hollywood Reporter that audiences clamor for original content, yet aren’t necessarily as eager to actually consume it.  Collier defended her studio’s production as “very audacious and brave,” further clarifying that it “intended to be bold.”  She added, “we don’t want all movies to be safe … it’s okay if some people don’t like it.”

And many people understandably don’t.  Director Darren Aronofsky and star Jennifer Lawrence subsequently went on an explanation tour of sorts, with every interview asking about the Scarlet ‘F’ or daring to dig into the interpretive miasma constituting the movie.  The sentiment taking shape suggested “Mother” was a boutique niche piece that happened to go national like it was any other average J-Law vehicle.  In reality, its trippy psychological thrills were better suited to serve their sentence in arthouse confinement.

What can I add to the conversation surrounding “Mother,” either positive or negative, that hasn’t been covered elsewhere?  Not much.  “Mother” can best be summed up as a filmmaker’s film, an exercise in avant-garde abstractness ascribing cinematic order to narrative chaos.  If the picture of pretentiousness still isn’t painted, consider also that characters don’t have proper names, chronology is fluid, and anyone’s guess is as good as the next for what any of it truly means.

Some have referenced “dream logic” in relation to the film’s strange storytelling style.  I object to using the word “logic.”  That implies some form of cause-and-effect morality to how the movie operates, and “Mother” doesn’t follow any rules at all.

‘Mother’ lives a seemingly peaceful life in quiet solitude with her struggling writer husband ‘Him.’  That tranquility takes on a drop of trouble that gradually grows more chaotic when a man on their doorstep makes fast friends with Him and becomes a houseguest.  Already reeling from haunting visions and odd abdominal pain, Mother doesn’t even have time to remark how no one refers to anyone by a real name as strangers quickly multiply, and Him can’t comprehend Mother’s desire to evict their increasingly intrusive visitors.

By virtue of this purposefully vague premise, Aronofsky expertly builds maddening tension out of disquieting unease and suggestive anticipation.  “Mother” isn’t exactly the “Rosemary’s Baby” (review here) homage alluded to by an early teaser poster.  Yet it would be reasonable to liken “Mother” to a feature-length version of the furtive whisper scenes frequenting Roman Polanski’s satanic classic, where Rosemary occupies an island of uncertainty stranded in a conspiracy disguised by normality.

Unfortunately, Aronofsky squanders suspense on an overstayed welcome of two full hours stuck on rinse and repeat.  The core foursome of Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer forms fascinating personalities out of mannerisms, expressions, and hints of mystery.  But their talents, and those of the equally terrific set and cinematography teams, are trapped in a loop with no clear endgame for achieving artistic expression or tangible entertainment.

The obvious allegory in play explores Biblical mythos hand in hand with social commentary on celebrity.  If that isn’t the pinnacle of self-important Hollywood posturing doubling as subject matter, I can’t comprehend what else would fit the bill.

It might be just as pompous to dismiss the movie on these grounds.  Fact of the matter is, “Mother” accomplishes its goal of being a divisive topic of coffee bar conversation (remember it isn’t broad enough for workplace water cooler talk).  You’ll either adore the effort for its artistry or be annoyed by its ambiguity.  But you will have a reaction as well as an opinion.

Looking back on everything written above, this piece reads less like a typically structured review and more like rambling blather struggling to make sense.  How ironically appropriate then, since “Mother” is less of a traditionally blueprinted film and more of a stream of consciousness exploring loosely connected ideas.  Keep that 50/100 score in mind and consider you might want to add or subtract the same amount, depending on how “Mother’s” unusual taste agrees with your particular palate.

Review Score:  50

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