As ancient as most of the subject matter is, mother! also has a lot to say about femininity in a modern context. The lead spends most of the movie ignored and disrespected, either by disrespecting her home or unabashed confrontation. Images courtesy Paramount Pictures.
8/10 Writer/director Darren Aronofsky has made a horror movie about inconsiderate house guests, and it is one of the most gripping, audacious things I have seen in my entire life.
A woman, known in the script only as mother (Jennifer Lawrence), lives in an idyllic, isolated mansion with her husband (Javier Bardem). The mother built their house herself and spends her days perfecting it while her other half, a famous poet, stares at his desk in an eons-long bout of writer’s block. One day, a stranger (Ed Harris) comes to the door saying he thought they were a bed and breakfast, and against mother’s wishes, the poet invites him to stay the night. The next morning, his fiendish wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) unexpectedly arrives as well. The duo becomes an ocean of unruly house guests as they surreally act out the Bible.
In its most basic elements, mother! is a master class in building and toying with tension. The camera is hyper-focused on the mother character, with barely a shot that she isn’t in or isn’t explicitly from her point of view. Despite her almost constant presence on screen, the camera is so close to her that it’s rare to see above her hairline or below her collarbone — and the wide shots that show her feet are outright jarring.
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As expected, Kingsman: The Golden Circle easily took the top spot last weekend with $39 million. Other new releases The LEGO Ninjago Movie and Friend Request disappointed, one much more severely than the other- Box Office Mojo
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