How to describe and review a movie that left you a bit speechless and more than a bit confused? Well, in the case of mother!, I had to think about it for a good 24 hours, along with reading up on some of the theories surrounding the symbolism the movie is drenched in.
mother! on the surface is the story of a couple living in a beautiful, secluded home. The younger Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) is restoring the home following a fire, while middle-aged Him (Javier Bardem) attempts to work on his poetry despite writer’s block. When a couple (Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer as Man and Woman, respectively) arrives needing a place to stay, and Him welcomes them in with open arms, things start to get very weird. Chaos erupts and expands quickly, causing this middle-aged writer to experience stress, panic, and high blood pressure. As the story unfolds and Mother’s life and surroundings completely unravel, extreme chaos/craziness ensues, which oddly allows Him to finally have a breakthrough. The ending is not only sad and overwhelming, but, for me, dispiriting as well.
Now, as I said, that’s all on the story’s surface. In order to not give away too much here, I will leave my review at that, with encouragement to watch first, then read some interpretations here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5109784/reviews?ref_=tt_urv
- Top Scare: ALL the guests
- Heartbeats: 3 out of 4
- Gore Factor: 2 3/4 out of 4
- Suspense Factor: 3 1/4 out of 4
- Recommended for: 17 and up