Sense of madness builds in ‘Mother!’
Starting in 1998 with “Pi,” Darren Aronofsky has directed, with mixed results, a series of dazzling and confrontational movies that combine visual virtuosity with intense probings of dark psychological themes. His new film, “Mother!,” follows suit. It’s a horror story about the beleaguered wife of a narcissistic writer and includes some remarkable visions of hell on Earth.
Aronofsky’s movies are not for everyone — provocations like “Requiem for a Dream” and “Black Swan” can feel assaultive, a deliberate test of audience endurance. Viewers willing to accept the challenge will be rewarded with passages embodying extraordinary moods and images.
In “Mother!” Jennifer Lawrence (who, in real life, is romantically involved with the director) plays an unnamed woman who lives in a large, remote house with a blocked poet ( Javier Bardem), also unnamed, and spends much of
her time fixing up the place, which was the site of a catastrophic fire. Some disquieting notes of marital discord are sounded, one of which involves her hope to become pregnant.
A stranger (Ed Harris) knocks at the door. He claims to be a doctor, though he smokes and suffers a hacking cough. He turns out to be a fan of the poet, who generously invites him to stay, against his wife’s wishes. This is the first instance of what will become one of the film’s major points, the wife’s increasing sense of encroachment, her loss of boundaries. And it’s only the beginning.
Another visitor (Michelle Pfeiffer) shows up, the wife of the Harris character, and she is even worse — a harddrinking harridan with a bad attitude about her hostess. Next up are the violently quarreling sons of the Harris and Pfeiffer characters. It’s a nightmare situation, but the Bardem character doesn’t see why. He says they just need to be generous to their “guests.”
It’s hard to believe that Aronofsky does not have “Rosemary’s Baby” in mind as he recounts the Lawrence character’s growing sense of paranoia and isolation. No one seems to understand why she’s upset about what amounts to a home invasion, one that’s going to reach apocalyptic dimensions. The outsiders are rude, destructive, menacing figures who sneer at her concerns.
Are they anything but projections of the poet’s intense selfishness? The scores and hundreds of guests all seem to worship his books, and he feels obliged to be nice to them. The Bardem character is an artist incapable of loving anyone but himself; nothing matters apart from his work and its acceptance by the world.
The movie has its share of wicked comedy, but it nevertheless builds to an over-the-top climax that’s a frightening image of the outbreak of collectivist madness overwhelming the individual. The invaders are reminiscent of “Rosemary’s Baby’s” Satanists, but lacking even a pretense of a civilized veneer.
Aronofky gets exactly what he needs from his top-notch cast. Lawrence is appealing and never allows herself to be reduced simply to a howling victim. Bardem, Harris and Pfeiffer are menacing in their own varying ways, with Bardem capable of turning on the charm at key times that makes us wonder if we haven’t misjudged him.
In short, if you’re game for it, “Mother!” is another of Aronofsky’s ominous extravaganzas.