Mãe!

... But it was just over the top. For my tastes the first half of the movie was great, a solid 9 stars. I felt the helplessness of Mother and it carried the message well enough. The second half was just overwhelming and too much. I would have loved the movie if they kept it more subtle. Michelle Pfeiffer was fabulous!

'Mother!' is a perfect example of a film that raises such high hopes with one of the best and most disturbing trailers (every bit as much as the trailer for 'IT') of the year, yet turns out to be the complete anti-thesis in quality making it one of the most disappointing, and to me the strangest, films of the year.

It is really sad for me to say this about 'Mother!' Appreciate Darren Aronofsky very highly, though totally get why his films don't click with all viewers, and really liked to loved all his pre-'Noah' films, especially 'The Wrestler' and 'Requiem for a Dream' ('Black Swan' was also great, and while it is one of his more polarising films likewise with 'The Fountain'). 'Noah' for me was a real disappointment, though it was nowhere near as bad as the initial audience response on IMDb (which was of vitriolic hate with severe objections to how the 'Noah's Ark' story was treated).

To me, 'Mother!' is Aronofsky's worst. Was expecting to be terrified and riveted but ended up being perplexed and left completely cold. Although the trailer was one of the year's best, it turned out to be one of the most misleading. Is 'Mother!' irredeemable? No, absolutely not, Aronofsky's films are at least extremely well-made and crafted and he often gets great performances out of well-chosen casts, even if there are other aspects that don't connect. Could it have been much better? Considering it had Aronofsky's name on it, that most of his previous films are examples of great film-making and that it had talent like Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, yes it should have been much better.

Where 'Mother!' fares strongly are in the visuals and the acting, pretty much the film's only near-uniformly good assets. It's a wonderful-looking film, especially in the agile and truly unsettling cinematography that gives a real disconcerting sense that there are things constantly lurking around. The production design is audacious and creepy, the house like an increasingly opening up character of its own, the lighting is rich in atmosphere and the aesthetics are more than accomplished.

Jennifer Lawrence sheds her usual quirkiness and feistiness, and gives a more vulnerable edge here which is not just wholly convincing but also very moving. Michelle Pfeiffer stands out in support in a truly startling turn, likewise with Ed Harris and their chemistry is far more interesting than that between Lawrence and Bardem. Domhall and Brian Gleeson (sons of Brendan) do very capably with little to do.

Aronofsky does bring some dynamic to his directing, if more in the style and atmosphere than in the storytelling and content.

However, 'Mother!' really is let down by that it feels incredibly muddled. Throughout there are a mishmash of tones, whether it was horror, thriller of a psychological kind, allegory and perhaps torture porn, and it all felt thrown in with not much thought in what to do with them. There are moments of an unsettled vibe, but only in spurts. A vast majority of the film has scares that are very much empty and too reliant on done to death old dark/haunted house tropes and at times unintentionally funny, the intense close ups and sudden reveals feel overused and neither provoke chills or sympathy for the protagonist (for all Lawrence's efforts).

The pacing is far too sedate to be thrilling and there is nothing sensual about the film due to the chemistry between Lawrence and Bardem being so lukewarm. 'Mother's' content is obvious a lot of the time, and the symbolism and allegorical elements came over as excessive, heavy-handed and overblown. It was not the matter of not getting them, it is the way they were used that has put people off and that it is hard telling what Aronofsky is trying to say. It was also not the matter of hating things that do things differently, have seen my fair share of unconventional films and have been impressed.

While Aronofsky succeeds in the stylistic elements and some atmosphere, the storytelling doesn't work here. The momentum is creaky constantly and the whole telling of it is strangely muddled at best and incomprehensible at worst. Particularly bad is the last half an hour, which descends into ridiculous and incoherent chaos and outlandishness. The dialogue is stilted and rambling and the characters are very thinly sketched, especially Bardem's, though Lawrence's is also too passive and is not easy to root for. There are exceptions to the acting, Bardem looks bored in his role and Kristen Wiig is completely out of place.

Overall, a disappointing film (didn't hate it, just didn't care for it) that should have delivered on creepiness but instead delivered on excessive weirdness that it has to be seen to be believed. It is not hard to see why it has polarised critics and audiences alike. 4/10 Bethany Cox

I have a nagging feeling that the raves come from people in their 20's and/or younger. I maybe wrong but the debate erupting from this movie reeks of youth. Something similar happened with Terrence Malnick's The Tree Of Life. People either loved it or hated it. From my own personal POV the only different between The Tree Of Life and Mother! is that The Tree Of Life was a masterpiece without any visual cope outs and, perhaps, the only commercial concession were in big star names but even then Brad Pitt gives one of the best performances of his career. Mother ! Is not a masterpiece, not to me anyway. I couldn't connect. Was it a comedy of the absurd? When I saw all the people dancing and partying in the house I had a flash back to Blake Edwards's "The Party"Jennifer Lawrence is a truly gifted actress and beautiful to boot and, quite clearly, she put herself in Darren Aronfski's hands, She, the mother, calls out "Baby"? Hoping to find her husband - She is a Saint Joan half burned already. That truly puzzled me. Can you please give us time to connect with her? A few minutes. If you remember Mia Farrow's Rosemary - She was, emotionally, so far away from what she's about to confront. Polanski takes the audience through her journey and we're with her, every step of the way. What makes it so terrifying is the veil of normalcy that surrounds the proceedings. In Mother, the surreal takes over the atmosphere and destroys it. We can keep a distance without really participating. The same can be said of Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer - They are a welcome, semi-camp addition at the perfect time and then, they disappear. The glory of Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer in Rosemary's Baby is that their intrusion is taken all the way through to extraordinary results. And Javier Bardem/John Cassavetes? If you're interested watch Rosemary's Baby again like I did last night, 24 hours after seeing Mother!and then you tell me. In my modest opinion one is a flawless masterpiece the other is just okay.

Went to the first matinée available locally and I am still thinking the picture over. Will definitely see this one again, if it hasn't left the theatre abruptly. I was certainly horrified by the film, which is a good thing, as I had assumed it was a horror picture. It is, of course, much more than that. Nonetheless, it is NOT The Conjuring or Get Out (both good films, for sure), so just be warned.

By now you are aware that the film has been controversial, also a good thing. Jennifer Lawrence does a fine job and her career is certainly not going to suffer for her performance. I am not exactly a JLaw "fan" (could live without the Hunger Games), although I will pay closer attention to her future performances, especially if she pulls off more roles like this one (really liked Winter's Bone, by the way). As I understand the Hollywood scene, it is a respectable personal decision to take on a challenging role in an avant garde picture, especially if you have already banked serious money from popular roles in blockbusters. Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ed Harris also do their respective parts justice--a well-acted film by A-listers, overall. Camera work and special effects are also impressive.

The story is genuinely disturbing in a Requiem for a Dream way, so don't go if you can't handle that sort of thing. Some of the violence is, indeed, OVER THE TOP. Seriously, not for the faint of heart. Aside from the biblical allegory stuff, I found the character portrayals creepy as hell in a (sur?)realistic David Lynch-esque way. Hell is other people!

I applaud Mr. Aronofsky for keeping his vision intact all the way to the big screen. For reference, I just don't need any more movies based on superheros, comic books (except The Tenth or Gen 13), children's cartoons, vampires fighting werewolves, or horror stick about unfriending weirdos on facebook.

You will have to make up your own mind on this one, so please do just that. Even if you end up despising the film, try to remember that, to quote Rob Zombie, "Art's Not Safe."

WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!