Mother! Review

Mother!, a captivating psychological drama from Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) is a film that has a meaning behind it's tale.

This is more than just a story to entertain. It's a tale of intrigue and tension and yet holds a message for how we treat the Earth. It's a layered film as it could easily be compared to the Bible in how it centres the plot around creation and idolisation/adoration. 
The plot follows a couple who live in a house that needs renovation; A poet (Javier Bardem who's struggling with writers block and his wife (Jennifer Lawrence) who's trying to renovate the house. That is until a fan (Ed Harris) of the poet shows up and from that point, a series of situations play out that have the  couple on an emotional journey which starts to disrupt their status quo.
Jennifer Lawrence gives a career best performance alongside a very  talented ensemble cast including Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Minds), Brian Gleeson (Logan Lucky), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina) and Kristen Wiig (The Martian). They all play their parts beautifully with how they've captured so much of their characters.
Aronofsky has created such a captivating film by using a series of almost intrusive closeups on the lead characters that we see every micro-expression from the events that are unfolding around them. 
He's Mixed the bizarre with normality so well that it feels we've fallen down the metaphoric rabbit hole with the characters by having things that are so commonly seen escalate on such an unusual level.
The only error that he made is how extravagant the final scenes become is almost forcing his hidden meaning upon you, but again, like the closeups, he's being intrusive and it works. It leaves that lingering affect after you're out the screen which just shows how atmospheric the film is as well as submersing.
The submersion comes from the lack of score which was a last minute decision made just days before release. The lack of score allows for higher realism and creates an engaging atmosphere as the sound effects are now more noticeable from the patter of feet to jingles of hanging pans. 
Mother!  is a must see and with out a doubt a best of 2017. It's atmospheric with a sense of horror that some captivates through charm.

​Mr. Cynic rates this 8.5/10