Movie Review: Mother! (2017)

Many movies was ruined for me by spoilers. One of the prime example for this was Gone Girl. Seriously, watch that movie if you haven't and stay away from spoilers or any article on it.

However, I am actually glad that I watch a movie explained video on mother! before watching it. From many article I've read about mother!, I can say that the movie is grossly misunderstood and undermined.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky who directed the likes of Black Swan and Requiem for A Dream, I've expected the movie to be rather dark and psychological. It is dark and does invoke some debate. Mother! is an allegory. Some would call it blasphemous in its depiction of God and religion.

I was ready to write the whole synopsis for the movie just now. Actually I did write three paragraphs of it. Oh well. Better not. To best enjoy the movie, try relating the action of the characters in the movie with biblical characters.

First, the man of the house was said to be God, or a Creator. The movies starts with him placing a crystal on a pedestal. A burnt surrounding is then morphed into a beautiful house. His wife who was unnamed but was the titular character so she was dubbed as Mother, is maybe best understood as mother nature. She is nurturing, keen on building the house with care and dedication. House might be the embodiment of earth. Upstairs is a study where Creator writes his poem (ehem..ehem.. poem equals to religious scripture). The study is supposed to be Heaven. Later in the movie, two characters (probably Adam and Eve) sneak into the study and broke a very special crystal in the room so The Creator sealed the room and vowed that the two of them will never enter there ever again. Hmm, not dissimilar to when Adam and Eve being banished from Heaven eh?

Later come Adam and Eve's sons who fight in the house until one of them is accidentally killed in the brawl. Wait a minute, that's Cain and Abel story. The Creator hold a wake for the fallen son inviting more men into his house. We see that Mother is getting weaker and more frustrated with her husband. Her frustration is peeked when a stranger breaks down a sink, flooding her kitchen. This might be a reach and I think that was supposed to mirror the big flood in Noah's Ark story.

The Creator finally has sex with wife which we see previously something that he avoided for a long time. The next morning, you know it, Mother is pregnant! The Creator is overjoyed. He is inspired so he goes on writing poem. When it is finished, The Creator shows it to Mother and his publisher. Abruptly, The Creator gain insane follower. Hmmm.. if this is not a depiction of religion and followers, I don't know what. His fame grows so big that men come pouring in the house, stealing things from the house just like how religious fanatics hoard religious relics with them.

In the chaos, The Creator takes Mother to his study, away from the fanatics and Mother gives birth to a BOY! Let me guess, Jesus?

Mother is understandably distraught by the amount of strangers in her house and she refuses to give her baby to The Creator to hold. But she finally falls asleep and immediately The Creator takes the baby away from her to show him to his fans. And what do you know. The fans kill the baby (like how the Romans killed Jesus) and eat the flesh (like how Christians eat Body of Jesus, a piece of bread by the way, during communion).

Mother is mad MAD! The Creator asks Mother to forgive his fans saying that he doesn't know that they would kill their son. Wow, this man a whole load.

Mother then runs to the cellar and ignite a tankful of gasoline. The house erupts with hellfire and everyone except The Creator is burnt to crisps. As they should. Human are pest and I hate them in this movie. Good job Mother! Now doesn't that sound like the Apocalypse? In fact, there was one instance where Mother said "I'll prepare for the apocalypse" referring to her impeding labor at that time.

The movie doesn't end there. After all is burnt down, The Creator, unharmed by the fire, brings Mother's horrifically burnt body to his study and ask for her love. Mother weakly cries in her deathbed asking why were she and the baby not enough? Why did The Creator need men? He says that it was his nature to create which is why he needs her love to rebuild the world. She allows him to take it from her chest. The Creator reaches for Mother's heart and brings out another crystal. He then places the crystal on a pedestal and the cycle starts again with a another version of Mother.

This movie is amazing! Jennifer Lawrence is perfection. I hate The Creator and Men so much that I was rooting for Mother to burn the whole shitshow. Although the movie is sometimes framed very tightly, it creates this uneasiness that suffocates you the longer you're in it which fits with Mother's own reaction to the events unfold in front of her. The first act in the movie shows how beautiful the house and the surrounding is. From the very start of the movie, we know that this world is not set in the real world. And when the ending is set in motion, the way the camera pan to every chaos in the house gives a visceral view of human's downfall. Absolutely nuts and gripping! Give mother! a watch. It can be blasphemous at times but boy this movie is made for second viewing.

And please.. Give your love to Mother. Reduce plastic waste and promote recycling. Kesian tau Mak penat dengan perangai makhluk-makhluk perosak yang bernama manusia ni.