Mother!

[kevinknapman]

Justly shrouded in secrecy, Darren Aronofsky's Mother! is a film that needs to be seen to be believed. If you think you got the measure of what the film is from the trailer, think again.
That only scratches the surface of a film that is much much more than the Rosemary's Baby clone it seemed to be.

Without going in to too much detail, it's cinematic biblical (and domestic) insanity on an extraordinary level.
It's unnerving, unsettling but brutally brilliant.

It takes an unwanted guests plot to apocalyptic extremes. There are moments that will genuinely upset and offend some audience members if they haven't walked out already.
For the first half you'll probably wonder what all the fuss is about, but in the second half, all hell breaks loose and the only reasonable response is "what on earth have I just watched?"

It's a film dominated by an outstanding lead performance from Jennifer Lawrence that is unlike anything she's done before supported by an excellent cast that also includes Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfieffer.

It's bound to be divisive but it's the boldest and most unique studio picture I've seen in a long time.

[tonethestone]

Great cast but wow what an awful film, I'm not a fan of the director so I didn't have high expectations but this is pure drivel, it's barely coherent, a complete mess of a film 1/5.

[elixir01]

It's been a few days since a saw this and I still can't work out what to make of it. Torn between appreciating that it was "an experience", but also feeling that it wasn't very cohesive and was often frustrating to watch. I look forward to hearing about what other FMUKers made of it! I'm going with a 2/5.

[prettyxcool]

So I managed to get a great position in the VIP pen at the UK premiere at Leicester Square Odeon, right behind the stage. Alex Zane walked passed me several times to go backstage, so that was quite funny, "You, again!" Waited ages for Jennifer Lawrence to turn up, she was very, very late, like an hour! So by the time we were let into the cinema, it was almost 7.50pm, when all the interviews were over. We could not leave earlier, as the pen would look empty when Alex was doing his interviewing! We saw the director, Darren Aronofsky, his girlfriend, Jennifer Lawrence, the producer Scott Franklin, and Domhnall Gleeson. Jennifer Lawrence looked stunning. And came down to the VIP pen afterwards and sign autographs and do selfies, unfortunately, her PR whisked her away, just as she was about to do a selfie with me!

After a brief intro from the Darren Aronofsky, who kept apologising for the film, and he said we see why later, the producer, came on to the stage, followed by the cast, Domhnall Gleeson and Jennifer Lawrence, then the film finally started at 8.10pm. See the intro here:

Film totally weird. It felt like a crazy nightmare to me! It is quite shocking and especially some parts really, really horrific! However, I was getting a bit bored with some of the repetition. Too many close ups too. Apparently, at the Q&A at the Telegraph screening, the Director said there was three angles, close up, over her shoulder and through her eyes.

But my row found it hilarious and laughed all the way through! You could see why it can be quite comedic. But the girl next to me had her hands over her eyes quite a lot! Totally different reaction. It's a very marmite film.

Don't read if you haven't seen the film:


7/10, because it was still entertaining, the acting is superb, and it had me thinking of the analogy long after, and created some varied discussions with my friends.

[RandomHajile]

saw this last week, i half like it but the last chapter felt a bit rushed.

the director must of def seen solaris/lost highway/mulholand drive/jacobs ladder/polanski stuff ect

it looked great, some people may not like how grainy it looks but it works for the darker scenes

worth a watch asap before the story gets ruined ect but i feel like there is loads missing from it, hopefully paramount put loads of extras on the home version

7/10 (just...)

[elski]

Full of spoilers so only for people that have seen it

Mother! explained: what does it all mean, and what on earth is that yellow potion?
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.telegr ... ained/amp/

[snowman2k]

Didn't read anything about the film before seeing, apart from i watched the trailer and thought it looked good (ouch big mistake). Saw it at the weekend, a couple of people got up and left during it, I felt like I should have has well, its self-indulging bollox!

Great acting by the leads to not burst out laughing at the material they were trying to be involved with, utter rubbish, barely worth 1/10

The film Imho is about having a creative idea and how the pressures and people around you tear it apart for a variety of reasons and then you need another one, not this biblical bullshit angle I've since read about.

[D-Fens]

I went into this knowing it was about

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fame

and that it had been trashed so I was expecting an art movie that may or may not work.

Was surprised to find a fairly straightforward Hollywood haunted house movie with an effectively vulnerable performance from Jennifer Lawrence.

The theme felt very on the nose so I could empathise but wasn't really affected, I wonder if it would have been a different experience not knowing anything beforehand and being able to draw your own conclusions.

It would have made a great play with it's single location and small cast, the ending would make an equally impressive spectacle. And a sequel movie Father!! about the 'positive' side of the theme would be interesting.

[elski]

I don't think it was about what you said at all. All the cast have been saying what it about and I have not heard that one

[D-Fens]

The thing I said is a surface level interpretation but

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it's definitely about an artist whose muse is destroyed each time he creates something due to the burden of success, we literally see that happen as more and more is demanded of him, his grace, time, possessions, personal life and eventually family because he's famous and has a new hit 'poem'.

The guy hitting on Jennifer Lawrence at the party is like a typical bad Hollywood fan interaction, acting like they own you and becoming nasty when you don't act as they expect but it doesn't actually make sense that it occurs in the context of the movie so on some level that's what it's about? She loses control of her life as a cult practically forms around her.

There might be a deeper biblical/etc. meaning but this was the headline I was aware of going in https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richa ... re-of-fame so that's the lense I saw it all through.