"Mother!" (2017) Directed by Darren Aronofsky #mother #horrorstories #moviereview #filmreview

"I first watched Darren Aronofsky’s biblical descent from the narcissism of celebrity fame into the very pits of hell via a Hammer House of bloody horrors during the first week of its initial UK release in September of 2017, and via the medium of a date with the fairer sex. Even back in those halcyon days of an ever faraway 2017, I sure could give a young lady a whirl of a time! I could embellish this tale further but I have no need as my memory, for a recent change, remembers clearly and distinctly the young lady in question exhaling heavily as we left the reassuring darkness of our local cinema, and away from the blood drenched walls of an Aronofsky creation of immense heightened intensity that relentlessly follows you around a living and breathing house of horrors, a house her mother desires to be an Eden like “paradise” but which has descended into the pits of an unimaginable, inescapable and grotesque hell, by looking me square in the eye and saying “Well that was bloody weird!”.

Bloody weird it was. Bloody weird it still is. And brutally bloody brilliant it is too!

When I was showing that young lady the time of her life by subjecting her to this macabre and surreal dizzying descent into the destruction and re-birth of a virginal Madonna, a Mother Earth Goddess if you will, I didn’t enjoy the story being told (largely because I hated every character bar one and still find the story a little befuddling) but I LOVED the oppressive intensity, the no room to breathe or take stock of what is really happening. For this, Aronofsky takes immense credit. The house of soon to be bloody horror is open plan, under renovation, the mother, building a nest and a “home” for generations to come. Aronofsky follows his Mother Goddess, forever dressed all in white or light, dowdy grey, constantly in extreme close up or just over her shoulder, as doors are opened and doors are closed, conversations tail off between rooms as the inhabitants of this beautiful house walk amongst it, through it, live it, breathe it, consume it whole. The house is alive but the occupants are deathly wraith like figures, Mephistopheles reaching up to grab them from the fire pits of hell as their Mother Goddess, exploited, abused and mis-treated, is dragged into hell with them".

The above is an extract from my spoiler free review of "Mother!" first penned and published to my Medium blog site on 4th March 2023 and the entire review can be read in full via the link immediately below:

https://medium.com/@stephenblackford561/mother-2017-fd98c23fce81

This review also forms part of my "essential film reviews collection" linked below and every volume 1 through 7 can be read for free should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

Thanks for watching!

Please "like" and subscribe!

Thank you.