mother! (Film Review)

2017 Protozoa/Paramount Pictures
Written and Directed by: Darren Aronosfky
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer; MPAA Rating: R
Nicsperiment Score: 0.0/10.0

Have you ever had the thought that artists put so much of themselves into their work, the cost to themselves and those around them is unimaginable? Do you need to watch a crowd of people rip a baby apart and eat it in order to have that thought occur to you? If so, mother! is your movie.
mother! stars Jennifer Lawrence as yet another Aronofsky female protagonist who appears to be losing her mind and spiraling into madness. Aronofsky seems to have a thing for that, as evidenced by the women of his Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Black Swan(2010). His female lead here is married to a writer, played by Javier Bardem, and the two live in a house in the middle of the woods. Bardem's character once lived there alone, but the place burnt down, and he lost everything. Apparently, Lawrence's character has rebuilt it, and is working on the finishing touches as the film begins, while Bardem struggles to write. The couple's not quite idyllic existence is broken by an unexpected visit from a strange duo, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer.
From there, the film spirals into unpredictable, grotesque insanity that is not only unpleasant to watch, but a complete waste of the viewer's time. Aronofsky's imagery is, as always, vivid and striking, but often at the service of his own excessive and unwatchable proclivities. Lawrence's character is put into increasingly uncomfortable situations, while simultaneously undergoing a progressively intense gaslighting by Bardem's character.
I find it hilarious that some critics have interpreted this film as an allegory for the historical mistreatment of women. Lawrence's body is ogled by the camera at every opportunity(the stereotypical male gaze is in full effect), and at one point, her clothes are stripped off from a POV perspective as she is fiercely beaten. If the film wants to explore how women have been mistreated through history, it completely negates that message by mistreating its lead actress. Lawrence herself says the film is a metaphor for the way mother Earth has been mistreated, but if that's the case, this metaphor is obtuse, because the director has dictated it through the used and curdled condom of his disturbed imagination. This movie is about one thing, and that is Darren Aronofsky.
Aronofsky has, to date, produced one film that did not feel like an exploitation picture. That film is 2008's The Wrestler, which proves the man can actually apply his unique eye for framing and camera movement to something worthwhile. Instead of that more noble path, he seems content to flush the viewer down the toilet of his id, again and again. I don't know who keeps funding Aronofsky's films, but it's time to spread that wealth elsewhere.