mother!

In his past work, acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky has crafted stunningly surreal and often shocking films that seek to push boundaries and challenge audiences. With mother!, he has taken this formula and pushed it to the extreme, delivering a nightmarish and powerfully intense experience that has been criticised by some for going to far, including a review from the National Review calling it perhaps "the vilest movie ever released by a major Hollywood studio." 

While mother! is very graphic in places and definitely deserves it's 18 rating, it is hard to describe how much of an overreaction many have had towards the film. Yes, it's brutal. But it's also an absolute thrill-ride of a film that is completely captivating in its increasingly outrageous and daring style. 

Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence excel as expected as the central couple of the film, with Lawrence being the absolute focus of the proceedings and the eyes through which we see the story unfold. Her innocence and vulnerability is brilliantly realised by the actress, delivering a performance that perfectly immerses the viewer into her world and troubled mindset. Bardem is also on top form as the mysterious husband whose struggle to overcome his writer's block gradually begins to dominate both of their lives. 

The other notable standout is Ed Harris as the mysterious visitor who invites himself into their house much to the confusion and anger of Lawrence's character. Similar to Bardem, Harris crafts a deliciously sketchy character that intrigues and captivates in equal measure. He is joined by Michelle Pfeiffer, who delivers a wonderfully twisted performance as the second visitor and plays a key role in amping up the surreal nature of the film. 

For a film so dark and highly-strung, it is surprisingly beautiful and lusciously shot. The incredible colour scheme is used to full effect and the camerawork is in places absolutely jaw-dropping, heightening the increasingly frenzied madness of each intense sequence. The consistent close up camerawork, focusing on the fear and confusion of Lawrence's character, ratchets up the feverish pace of the film to insane levels as Aronofsky unleashes the full extent of his hellish creation. 

Another major standout is the sound design. As Lawrence's character begins to suffer from traumatic episodes, every little sound, from the clink of a glass to the creaks of the house, grows deeper and more intense, adding to the surreal nature of these sequences. The film's soundtrack is also very subtle and understated, with Aronofsky actually throwing out an original score in favour of a more minimal score that incorporated the soundscape of the house. 

In my review of It Comes At Night earlier this year, I mentioned the rise of a "post-horror" movement in cinema, leading to recent masterpieces such as A Ghost Story and Get Out, films that, along with It Comes At Night, eschewed the tired tropes of the modern horror formula in favour of a deeper, psychological dread. While this polarized audiences in the process (apart from Get Out, which was widely praised from all corners), mother! has absolutely confirmed the brilliance and ingenuity of this movement and I feel that it is honestly the best thing happening in cinema right now. 

Sadly, film studios are still misjudging how to promote these films, marketing them as more conventional horror flicks to appeal to the widest possible audience. This explains mother!'s shockingly poor CinemaScore of F, a score that has only been given to 18 other films. 

Given that this score is decided on by cinemagoers, it is clear that many have felt misled by the trailers released by Paramount, the studio responsible for this shoddy marketing approach. While I'm pleased that a film as ambitious as mother! got a wide release, this was not the way to go about it and it is a real shame. 

mother! feels like peak Aronofsky, the epitome of his surreal vision and bold filmmaking. It's everything that makes the post-horror movement so exciting, a constantly evolving, genre defying creation that is as ambitious as it is thrilling. The fact that is has angered so many just goes to show how prepared Aronofsky is to take risks and boy, it has paid off in a big way.