mother! is a drama, mystery, psychological horror film, but it is good?
I went into the film mother! knowing that it had one of the most disturbing scenes in cinema. This is according to a recently created film list that I had seen online. I also knew that it was made by Darren Aronofsky, who has made some strange and controversial films in the past. The movie is categorized as a psychological horror film, which is the only other thing I knew before viewing it. I prepared myself for both the disturbing scenes and the psychological horror beforehand. Nonetheless, the movie still left me feeling somewhat baffled.
For the first three-quarters of the movie, I found myself mostly bored and confused. I wanted to know what was happening, so I could better understand going forward everything that was taking place. Not much happens that means anything to a first time viewer, and not much is developed to stir further interest. The movie did raise a lot of questions until its finale. “Why is this happening? What exactly is happening? Why is she acting like that?” all came up during this time. I continued watching, merely because I wanted these questions answered so I could develop an opinion on the film. Very basic information is given, so it makes it somewhat obvious that the film is about more than what we are seeing on the screen. Trying to figure out exactly what each and everything means is not so obvious. This task paired with the very slow reveal of information, makes the film feel tedious.
I equate this movie to an M. Night Shyamalan, “what a twist” movie. The way this style is executed with mother!, makes much of the film feel awkward. The interactions and dialogue between the two main characters seem forced and slightly off. It also seems to have an effect on the execution of the acting. It’s hard to hold back information and dialogue while trying to stimulate a deeper specific message. Yes, silent movies can tell stories and evoke emotions simply with faces, but the movies were entirely geared toward that style. mother! is purposely holding back. There are many long stares and frustrated faces, but no hints as to what’s going on underneath. We know this couple is going through a trying time and there’s more at play, but what? Why do I care? This awkwardness reaches intense heights as strange things happen and “Mother”, Jennifer Lawrence’s character, seems as confused as the viewer does, while “Him”, Javier Bardem’s character, just goes along with it. Many actions take place without explanation. The two main characters just seem to be going along on some insane ride, and we just woke up from a nap in the backseat.
The film eventually does pick up and takes off like a car peeling out and fishtailing down the road. The problem is that once the film picks up it becomes very dizzying. There are crowds of people making lots of noise. There is the squealing and strain of whatever the ailment is that Mother is going through. Many trips around the house at a quick pace has the camera constantly shooting back and forth. This period really just increases the tension and stress that the film literally puts on the viewer. If there is a purpose to the stress it is still unknown, but it is definitely felt. We can feel that the film is coming to a head, and it feels like something is going to break at any moment. Then towards the end of the film, this follows through with actual breaking and destruction of the huge house. This destruction is loud, jarring and again turns up the intensity both visually and audibly. Even towards the end of the film when everything is turned all the way up, we’re still searching for clarity and answers. At this point, it is just more frustrating, because we’ve gone through this whole film and now it’s at the climax and we’re still unsure if it’s worth it or if we’ve enjoyed it.
The strange actions and events in mother! just seem to occur and the characters kind of go along with it. I think that is a common issue with this type of film, and mother! in particular. A film like Fight Club has a twist and drops subtle hints along the way. In the end, we get the reveal and it makes the rest of the movie more interesting. Fight Club makes sense though for the most part while you’re watching it. There’s a reasoning behind the crazy things that occur. It took me out of the story more than once to say “Why is he letting those strangers in?” or Why would he invite them back?” The problem is that there is no answer to these questions until the very end of the film. The film does make some sense once it is completed. We finally get answers to and can make judgments on what we just saw as a whole, while trying to recall all the subtle hints and actions from over an hour ago to make it make sense. It’s a strange way to enjoy a film. While I was watching it, I didn’t really enjoy or understand most of it. After it was complete, I understood the story as a whole and I respected the effort put forward to try and tell the story. I don’t think gaining understanding at the end of this film makes me want to rewatch it or like it more. The dizzying sequences were a little too much, and they don’t add enough to my understanding or appreciation of the film to sit down and experience them again. I also don’t think that noting any of the little nuances and details, in this case, will make the overall creation story, and religious allegory any more profound. The ending itself is essentially all that is needed.
The movie is two hours long. I don’t think that much is accomplished most of this time. The audience is just left feeling confused and weird. It’s not even for a specific reason since it doesn’t make sense till the film’s final moments, other than to hint that there’s obviously a lot we don’t know or understand. A lot of information is given away in the last few minutes of this film. We get an idea of who the two main characters are, Bardem’s motivation the entire film, and we understand the theme the film was trying to express. We’ve already been with these characters for two hours though, and it seems a little too late. The entire story is essentially told in its last 10 percent, so why did we just go through that journey that we didn’t enjoy?
The characters themselves are missing personalities. They are more figures for general uncharacterized characters in the Bible or classic artist and muse relationship. The actors can’t really create the characters as you would in a normal, story because they are more symbols than developed personalities. They are expressing themselves in more general emotions like their basic literary counterparts. Every artist is different; therefore, He just acts like a generic struggling artist. We don’t know what Adam and Eve were like, so the actors just play generic man and woman roles. I find this decision interesting. It plays into the director’s overall goal in the storytelling, but I feel it limited any development of the characters as well as the actors’ performances. It’s a unique film with a unique end, so employing unconventional storytelling matches with the style. It just makes it harder to connect with the characters and what they are going through.
The disturbing scene did come into play in the climax of the film. It was off-putting, graphic and gross, but by this time I was just looking for answers. My interest to see what was going on, and gain some insight about the previous two hours overwhelmed the shock of this scene. The scene is important to the religious allegory that the director is paralleling with the movie. There are things in the Bible that if taken literally or even as intended, are both disturbing and extreme. I think the scene and its unsettling nature makes sense and doesn’t stray too far from the direction of the rest of the film. Yes, it stood out, but no, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
mother! is a different take on storytelling. There is no precedent for how to interpret a film like this. Movies are supposed to be entertaining. I was more perplexed by the film than entertained. I think that by the end the director got his message across, which seemed to be the single purpose of the film. Regardless, I did watch the entire 2 hours to find out what was going on. This is the type of movie where the director has to come out afterward to explain exactly what the film is about. This is a film that doesn’t really fit into a genre. I did feel a psychological strain and I felt uncomfortable while watching the film, which does fall along the lines of a psychological horror film. I wasn’t ever scared, but more afraid that I was missing something and going through the entire film and its discomfort for nothing. This outing does fit right in with the rest of Aronofsky’s portfolio as a bold and distinctive film. I can’t say that I would recommend it to anyone else to watch; or that I would be interested in watching it again even for the purpose of further discussion.
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