mother!
My introduction to Darren Aronofsky. I first watched this years ago, gave it a 7/10 and quickly forgot about it. I rewatched it recently and it turns out I was an idiot because this movie fucking rocks.
Probably one of the most tense and uncomfortable movies to come out in the last 15 years. Love how claustrophobic the camerawork is and the fact that the camera always follows Jennifer Lawrence’s character is a brilliant touch and makes you feel every bit of her discomfort and stress. The way the film builds and builds to the sheer chaos of the last 30 minutes is incredibly satisfying. In one interview Aronofsky described it as an “assault on the senses” which is exactly why I love it. It offers an experience I can’t get out of many films.
I also love that not everything in this film had a clear explanation. I had a lot of questions while watching like “what was that heart thing in the toilet?”, “what is the yellow powder she keeps drinking?”, “what was with the lightbulb in the basement?” and “why are there hearts beating in the walls?”. I wasn’t really expecting to find an answer to these questions but it made the whole experience so much more surreal and frightening, like something out of a nightmare, and left me with something to think about after watching. A lot of the time, not explaining things and creating the “fear of the unknown” is a lot more effective than just directly explaining all the movie’s themes and showing everything to the audience. It was fun to think about.
I know a lot of people hate the religious allegory in this film but it wasn’t something I really even picked up on on my first watch, perhaps because I’m not religious myself. When I found out about it I thought “oh, that’s pretty cool”. The number of people I see call it “religious propaganda” also makes me wonder if we even watched the same movie. The movie clearly presents religion (and humanity in general) in a pretty negative light. Javier Bardem’s character (who symbolises God) is obviously supposed to be an asshole. And yeah, the symbolism could be much less ham-fisted, but I “enjoy” the viewing experience so much that it doesn’t really bother me. I see it as more of a garnish rather than the main part of the meal.
Seeing the way people react to this film kind of just makes me realise how differently some people digest movies. If you’re watching this movie looking for something profound and intellectually stimulating, you’re probably not going to enjoy it very much. But if you’re like me, and enjoy movies as more of an emotional and sensory experience, similarly to music, you’ll probably find yourself loving it. I didn’t even know this film was so divisive until my second watch because I never picked up on the religious symbolism.
Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer are all fantastic in this. Jennifer Lawrence is… uhh, not great. She’s mostly fine but there’s a scene later on in the movie where she has to cry and it doesn’t sound convincing at all. Maybe someone like Florence Pugh would’ve suited her role better.
Love the acting, love the cinematography, love the pacing, love the set design, love the atmosphere. Love it. I understand that I’m in the minority on this one though.