Mother!

Having seen a lot of safe mainstream films that offered action, comedy and superheroes, I thought it was time to challenge myself with something that had an 'edge' to it and so last year's incredibly divisive Mother! seemed like the perfect choice. I had no idea what it was about about apart from the fact that a lot of people hated it, which seemed appropriate given director Darren Aronofsky's vast filmography or were audiences just ready for a break from Jennifer Lawrence?

Without wanting to give much away, Mother! tells the story of a married couple (Lawrence and Javier Bardem) who live in an elegant countryside home that belonged to Bardem's family. It was damaged some time before in a fire and the couple have been working to restore it every since. However, Bardem's character is suffering from writer's block which leaves Lawrence to do most of the work, and this is made worse when unexpected guests start to arrive.

This is the third of Aronofsky's films I've watched, the others being Black Swan and Noah, and he has a strong sense of vision that makes his films fascinating to watch. The majority of the story takes place within the house but there's never a dull moment and it's this concentration that's also used in his storytelling that makes Mother! exhilarating to watch, even in the most quiet of his scenes. I could best describe this as a nightmare where you're aware something is strange but there's nothing you can do other than to watch the madness unfold.

For some reason, the Razzie awards picked on the film and its stars but the two leads give some of their best performances. Lawrence rarely escapes the centre of the camera frame, where a lesser actor would have withered, and she gives this surreal film a heart and something for audiences to engage with. The experience Aronofsky creates is strange and not all that friendly to mainstream audiences but that's to his credit and it is so refreshing to have a big film like this. And if it wasn't one particularly grim scene/shot that gives the film its 18 certificate, I think this would have had a better reception.

Mother! is ideal for anyone looking for something different and thought-provoking. There are some obvious ways that it can be interpreted by the end but even after a few days, Aronofsky has created a haunting film that I still think about. With that said, it's not perfect and does drag a little towards the end in the final few scenes where less could have been more. Regardless, I'd recommend to anyone who isn't fainthearted.