Title: mother!
Running Time: 122 min
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writer: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Stephen McHattie
Review:
Whether you are a fan of his work or not, Darren Aronofsky is an intriguing director at the very least. He has tackled many different topics and genres including surrealism (" π"), sports drama ("The Wrestler"), fantasy ("The Fountain"), psychological thriller ("Black Swan"), biblical epic ("Noah") and more. Nevertheless, he still fills his films with personal trademarks and has made a name for himself for being controversial and disturbing at times. Now, the director dives into the horror genre to get audience's hackles up.
His latest film certainly is a unique cinematic experience, although it really isn't a film for everyone. While the trailers promised a "haunted house vs. home invasion" type movie, you get much more than you bargained for. The story of a couple living alone in a house, that suddenly gets a dubious visitor, seemed simple enough. But "Mother!" is a grande metaphorical horror film, that is as disturbing as it is strange. Getting weirder with every minute, it slowly builds up to a complete escalation in its finale.
Aronofsky proves that he is a master of the craft as he takes you through this mysterious journey. The horror genre is often considered to be cheap, because scaring people is incredibly easy (even your regulare house cat can make you jump every now and then). To frighten someone to the core however, is a wholly different story. Aronofsky for example refrains from using the typical musical cues that notify you of an upcoming scare. In fact, he doesn't use any music at all. Instead, the noises of the house take center stage. Squeaking floorboards, muffled footsteps and rattling furniture. Everything becomes alive to create a truly haunting atmosphere. Additionally, the director follows his protagonist with an extensive use of close-ups and tracking shots, trapping us in her perspective and making the movie all the more claustrophobic.
This is also where Jennifer Lawrence' splendid acting comes in. After kind-of phoning it in in "X-Men: Apocalypse" and "Passengers", she shows once again why she is an Oscar-caliber actress. Her sincere and empathy prompting performance draws you into the movie and makes the things that happen to her all the more uncomfortable.
Because content-wise, this is a really uncomfortable film. The story equals a fever dream, where there seems to be no reason behind the string of events. In nightmarish fashion strange and (towards the finale) very disturbing imagery unravels. Some people will find this unnecessarily harsh and the chaos of this movie appalling. Others might relish this uncensored unraveling of Aronofsky tormented artistic mind. Because within this turmoil of weird incidents, a lot of themes are touched upon. The metaphorical storytelling allows many different interpretations. Maybe one will stick with you. Maybe you'll have none and only after digging into others people's analyses it will fall like scales from your eyes. And maybe you'll find this film so bloated and pretentious that you just don't care. But Aronofsky surely put a lot of his thoughts and grand questions about human nature and our world in general into this film. Whether you will enjoy this ride certainly depends on your affinity for the Kafkaesque. Either way, it will be unlike anything you have seen in theaters lately.
For Fans Of:
Franz Kafka
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Only God Forgives (2013)
Click Here To Watch Trailer!
Running Time: 122 min
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writer: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Stephen McHattie
Review:
His latest film certainly is a unique cinematic experience, although it really isn't a film for everyone. While the trailers promised a "haunted house vs. home invasion" type movie, you get much more than you bargained for. The story of a couple living alone in a house, that suddenly gets a dubious visitor, seemed simple enough. But "Mother!" is a grande metaphorical horror film, that is as disturbing as it is strange. Getting weirder with every minute, it slowly builds up to a complete escalation in its finale.
Aronofsky proves that he is a master of the craft as he takes you through this mysterious journey. The horror genre is often considered to be cheap, because scaring people is incredibly easy (even your regulare house cat can make you jump every now and then). To frighten someone to the core however, is a wholly different story. Aronofsky for example refrains from using the typical musical cues that notify you of an upcoming scare. In fact, he doesn't use any music at all. Instead, the noises of the house take center stage. Squeaking floorboards, muffled footsteps and rattling furniture. Everything becomes alive to create a truly haunting atmosphere. Additionally, the director follows his protagonist with an extensive use of close-ups and tracking shots, trapping us in her perspective and making the movie all the more claustrophobic.
This is also where Jennifer Lawrence' splendid acting comes in. After kind-of phoning it in in "X-Men: Apocalypse" and "Passengers", she shows once again why she is an Oscar-caliber actress. Her sincere and empathy prompting performance draws you into the movie and makes the things that happen to her all the more uncomfortable.
Because content-wise, this is a really uncomfortable film. The story equals a fever dream, where there seems to be no reason behind the string of events. In nightmarish fashion strange and (towards the finale) very disturbing imagery unravels. Some people will find this unnecessarily harsh and the chaos of this movie appalling. Others might relish this uncensored unraveling of Aronofsky tormented artistic mind. Because within this turmoil of weird incidents, a lot of themes are touched upon. The metaphorical storytelling allows many different interpretations. Maybe one will stick with you. Maybe you'll have none and only after digging into others people's analyses it will fall like scales from your eyes. And maybe you'll find this film so bloated and pretentious that you just don't care. But Aronofsky surely put a lot of his thoughts and grand questions about human nature and our world in general into this film. Whether you will enjoy this ride certainly depends on your affinity for the Kafkaesque. Either way, it will be unlike anything you have seen in theaters lately.
For Fans Of:
Franz Kafka
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Only God Forgives (2013)
Click Here To Watch Trailer!
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