Mother! Film Review
The entirety of the film is set in an old style Victorian house, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded entirely by a circle of trees and dense forest. This ties in with the classic horror cliche of an isolated, old house which is played to in a lot of new and old films within the genre. The residence of this house are Mother, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and Man, played by Javier Bardem, who both have a mysterious air around them. Lawrence plays a young wife, who seems to be restoring the house to its former glory, as her husband, a famous poet, struggles with intense writers block. Things seem quite tranquil at first, until the appearance of a strange man at their door.
Everything seems to become increasingly strange upon the arrival of this mysterious man, and later his wife, then their 2 sons. There are numerous references to biblical events throughout the duration of the movie, with the presence of the family being one of the most notable. Ed Harris and Michelle Phieffer's characters represent Adam and Eve, with Lawrence being Mother Nature and Bardem being God. The film in its entirety is an allegory.
Fast forward to the "second act" of sorts where more chaos ensues after Mother becomes pregnant, just after the "flood" of the sink breaking. Biblical symbolism is a consistent element to this film, and plays with what horror movies traditionally are. Most horror films play with the complete opposite of biblical messages, such as the presence of Satan or ghosts.
The cinematography within the film is very unique, as the camera, roughly in mid-shot, mainly "follows" Lawrence around the house, somewhat mimicking a found footage style of camera work with its own unique twist. The majority of the film uses a combination of mid-shots, close-ups and over the shoulder shots to create an intimate atmosphere for the audience, which throughly entices and enhances the experience of viewing the film. These "POV" type shots help immerse the audience and in turn portray the ever changing emotions felt by Lawrence, such as confusion, which is expertly depicted with the frantic movement of the camera, particularly during the moments leading up the the "flood", when the people at the wake seem to ignore and disregard her wishes. Each emotion felt by Lawrence is represented in the way the camera moves, for instance when she is clearly feeling overwhelmed, the camera mimics that and moves in an almost frenzy. The close-up shots very simply display the emotions even further, and the simplicity of this allows the audience to decode with ease how Lawrence is reacting to the events around her, particularly when interacting with other characters. Tracking, combined with the sharp cuts at points, increase the intimacy of the camerawork, and even further allows the audience to almost experience the events that unfold almost simultaneously with Lawrence. Lighting remains quite mellow and dark, with brown, warm tines being used to elude to a sense of comfort, which is directly juxtaposed by the events that unfold, and the increasing mystery behind them. This lighting choice gives the illusion of safety, and attempts to make the house feel welcoming, when for Lawrence it seems to be the opposite; warm tones tend to connote security and optimism. A scene in which this is most present is just after the mob of fans arrives after Bardem publishes a poem, in which the chaos seems completely suffocating and overwhelming, but as mentioned the lighting doesn't allow for the classic cool toned lighting seen within a lot of other horror movies. This is heightened as the chaos increases and more and more people arrive to the house, specifically with the use of red lighting to demonstrate the growing danger within the scene. Each scene is quite dark, which even further alludes to the idea that the house itself poses the most danger.
There is a large lack of non-diegetic sound, with music being absent within the film. The lack of soundtrack to
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