Ah, where to start with this one. A surprisingly obscure movie, especially for Reddit, who I thought would be in love with it, mother! is a tale about.. well, simply put it's a story about living together. About making it work. Darren Aronofsky's best work, in my opinion, it is a strong film carried by wonderful performances from Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence. It is easily Lawrence's best performance, and really turned me around on her after believing her to be overall an average actress.

I will warn beforehand, this film is best seen with absolutely no spoilers or idea of the plot besides the most condensed version of a synopsis. With that in mind, SPOILER ALERT

What a movie. Stressful, claustrophobic, hopeless, terrifying.. but not a horror movie, in my opinion. As far as disturbing masterpieces go, I believe this is the best of the decade. Especially the finale. God, I've never felt so turned on my head by a film. The best part being, of course, that it wasn't some jarring and sudden change. It's built to and completely earned.

So, let's begin. Obviously, mother! as a whole is just the story of the Bible, from the perspective of Mother Nature herself. Obviously there are a couple variations, but overall this is the gist. We have Javier Bardem as this writer, a creator of works adored by all of creation. He is The Writer. He and his wife Jennifer Lawrence have just moved into this wonderful little corner of happiness, and are working together to fix it up. We know that The Writer is much older than Mother, and that he has had a bad experience with a woman before him. This is what we are given to start. No names, no backstory, no real connections whatsoever.

In an attempt to keep this from getting too long, I'll only give some in depth commentary on the climax.

So, where shit hits the fan. You could argue as early as the funeral there were blatant issues that weren't going to be solved, but I don't think anyone could have seen what happened when the Writer published his magnimopous coming. Mother is pregnant, and soon to deliver. The Writer however is focused on his people. He cares for her, but not more than his followers. He puts them above her, but is aware of it. Bardem's acting is amazing as you see on his face it pains him to be cruel to her, but he just cannot stop himself. It is not out of malice, but he has merely made his choice. Then we get to the degenerates. Degeneracy and cruelty takes over the house, and Mother desperately attempts to find protection. Murder, famine, rape, torture. False religions, true religions with evil intentions. It's a terrifying ride through the worst days of her life. Finally, The Writer takes just a moment to spare her from the evils of man. It's a genuine moment of something that is still love, and it gives you hope that somehow Mother and The Writer can get out of this together. And then.. a child is born! The last moments of joy in the film. But immediately, the greed of the Writer surfaces. His people.. they only want to see the child. Though it's not theirs, he feels utterly obligated to them. For the final nail in the coffin, he chooses his people over his love. The fracture between them is final and will not be remedied. I absolutely adore the subtlety of these scenes in the sacred place. The child is born into perfection. The last pure place in the world. It really drills in that the movie wants you to believe the Writer is making the wrong choice. That WE are the wrong choice. And yet, he steals the child away. He doesn't reason and convince, in the dead of the night while she let's down her guard, just once, he takes him away. Figuratively throws him to the wolves.

The Breaking of the Body of Christ is quite honestly the most disturbing scene I've ever seen. You feel Mother's terror as she frantically chases her child. You flinch and turn away as you hear a snap and the crying stops. You can barely stand to watch as you see the parts of his body being devoured. You feel her pain and the beating and stripping starts. The people decimate Mother beyond restoration. They have no care for her, no guilt, no reservations. Both she and they are beyond help. So she does what she has to do. She ends it all. The Writer let his people have too much control, and in the end it was a mistake. He is left with ashes.. and his Apple. To start over. To try again. Because he needs to. Because in the end, powerful as he may be, he needs them. He can't be alone.

So, did you all like the film? If not, why do you feel that way? Do you believe there is a literal representation of Kristen Wiig, or that she was just an abstract representation of hypocrisy and evil? Did you feel that the symbolism was too heavy at times, or that it hit the sweet spot of subtle storytelling,

Let's talk about it!