From Garden of Eden references in π to the Tree of Life in The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky’s ilms have often riffed on biblical (and specifically Genesis-based) ideas, and mother!—his first film since the controversial Noah—is no exception.
Like his last film, his new one is a story of Creation, the Fall, and Apocalypse with an environmental subtext. Jennifer Lawrence plays the titular mother, who is married to a celebrity poet (Javier Bardem) and trying to make a home with him, but he craves the adoration of his fans no matter how rude, obnoxious or even murderous they become, and the resulting film is a nightmarish fever dream about the worst houseguests in the world.
Not for the squeamish, the film probes the relationship between vanity and creativity, and—in tandem with Aronofsky’s previous depiction of Noah and the women in his life interpreting God’s will differently—it asks where true divine authority can be found when the sexes are not in harmony. — Peter Chattaway, FilmChat
Arts & Faith Lists
2017 Arts & Faith Ecumenical Jury — #10