# Mother!
**Mother!** (stylized in lowercase) is a 2017 American psychological horror film written and directed by [Darren Aronofsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/darren-aronofsky), starring [Jennifer Lawrence](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-lawrence), Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and [Michelle Pfeiffer](https://www.edgepedia.org/michelle-pfeiffer)[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpICoc65uh0). It follows a young woman credited only as "Mother" whose tranquil life with her poet husband, credited as "Him", in an isolated country house is disrupted by uninvited guests, escalating into a violent allegory built on biblical structure and told, in its director's account, from the point of view of Mother Nature[2](https://time.com/4951193/darren-aronofsky-mother-director/). The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2017, opened in United States theaters on September 15, 2017, through Paramount Pictures, and became one of the year's most polarizing releases, earning an F grade from opening-night audiences polled by CinemaScore while holding a positive rating among critics[3](https://www.fandango.com/mother-2017-199804/movie-overview) • [4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/is-mother-a-masterpiece-or-a-mess-fans-and-critics-sound-off/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Darren Aronofsky, his first film since *Noah* (2014)[5](https://time.com/4927288/mother-review-jennifer-lawrence/) |
| Cast | Jennifer Lawrence as Mother, Javier Bardem as Him, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer as the first visitors, with Kristen Wiig as the poet's publisher[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpICoc65uh0) • [6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother) |
| Release | Venice premiere September 5, 2017; US theatrical release September 15, 2017 (Paramount Pictures)[3](https://www.fandango.com/mother-2017-199804/movie-overview) • [7](https://earthrootfoundation.org/media/file_uploads/e_magazine/earth_root_july24_OsWi4EQ.pdf) |
| Writing | Initial script written in five days, which Aronofsky described as pouring out "like a fever dream"[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother) |
| Reception | F CinemaScore from opening-night audiences; 69% Fresh rating from nearly 200 reviews at release, later 68% from 377 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes[4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/is-mother-a-masterpiece-or-a-mess-fans-and-critics-sound-off/) • [8](https://movie.guru/mother-movie-review) |
| Box office | Opening weekend $7.5 million; $44.5 million worldwide[8](https://movie.guru/mother-movie-review) |
| Sound | The film contains no music score; its energy, in Aronofsky's account, lies in the script[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-darren-aronofsky-mother-20170913-story.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and structure
The film opens with Mother (Lawrence) restoring a large, isolated, fire-damaged house she shares with Him (Bardem), a poet suffering from writer's block[7](https://earthrootfoundation.org/media/file_uploads/e_magazine/earth_root_july24_OsWi4EQ.pdf) • [10](https://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/120/112/442). A stranger (Harris) arrives at the door, mistaking the house for a bed and breakfast, and Him insists on hosting him despite Mother's objections; the stranger's wife (Pfeiffer) follows, and then their two sons, whose quarrel over their father's will turns violent and leaves one dead[10](https://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/120/112/442). The funeral gathering brings more intruders, whose carelessness damages the house until a burst pipe forces them out[10](https://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/120/112/442).
After Mother becomes pregnant, Him finds the inspiration to finish his masterpiece, and the publication of the book draws an adoring crowd that forces its way into the home. The second half descends into ritual violence, war, and cult-like worship of the poet, culminating in a climax that runs roughly 25 minutes[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother) • [11](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2017/10/13/interview-darren-aronofsky-mother-definitely-technically-difficult-thing-team-ever-attempted/). The mob kills and cannibalizes the couple's infant son, the crowd brutalizes Mother, and she finally ignites the house's gas line, destroying everything. Him then takes a crystal formed from her heart, places it on its mount, and the restored house awakens with a new woman in the bed, restarting the cycle[10](https://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/120/112/442).
## Allegory and interpretation
Aronofsky has been explicit about the film's design. He described wanting to tell a story not about "your mother or my mother, but our mother", the Earth that gave life to everyone, and chose biblical myths as the structure because the creation story is one most audiences already know[12](https://nationalboardofreview.org/2017/10/qa-darren-aronofsky-jennifer-lawrence/). In a 2017 interview he stated, "The structure of the film was the Bible, using that as a way of discussing how humans have lived here on Earth"[13](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b5de28e9d5abb9699c9c296/t/5c34b6a7b8a04568549d150d/1546958504288/Eric%2BJarrard%2B-%2BJewish%2BIdentity%2Band%2BBiblical%2BExposition%2Bin%2BDarren%2BAronofsky%E2%80%99s%2BFilms.pdf).
The mapping he and critics have drawn is consistent across readings: Lawrence's Mother stands for [Mother Nature](https://www.edgepedia.org/mother-nature) or the Earth, Bardem's Him for a creator God, Harris and Pfeiffer for Adam and Eve, their sons' fatal quarrel for [Cain and Abel](https://www.edgepedia.org/cain-and-abel), the burst pipe for the Flood, the pregnancy and child for the Nativity, the cannibalization for the [Eucharist](https://www.edgepedia.org/eucharist), and the burning of the house for apocalyptic fire[10](https://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/120/112/442) • [14](https://time.com/4943762/mother-movie-jennifer-lawrence-references/). The film departs from scripture in its portrayal of God, who is shown neither as the loving creator of the Hebrew Bible nor as the New Testament Father, but as a narcissist who values worship more than the well-being of his creation[10](https://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/120/112/442).
Aronofsky framed the environmental message in terms of scale. Global catastrophes, he argued, are too abstract to absorb, so the film reduces them to a human scale: "everyone understands if someone comes over and burns a hole in your carpet with a cigarette"[2](https://time.com/4951193/darren-aronofsky-mother-director/). He named [Shel Silverstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/shel-silverstein)'s picture book *[The Giving Tree](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-giving-tree)*, in which a tree gives up everything for a boy, as a major influence on the central relationship, and cited [Luis Buñuel](https://www.edgepedia.org/luis-bunuel)'s *The Exterminating Angel*, in which dinner guests become trapped in a room, as another inspiration[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother). He also described the film on one level as a relationship movie about a couple with problems[15](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a12440278/darren-aronofsky-mother-director-interview/).
Academic readings have extended the allegory. Alexandra Hauke, a scholar of American studies at the University of Passau, reads the film as an American ecofeminist gothic that both repeats and subverts the essentialist equation of women and nature, drawing on Puritan gothic traditions and raising ecocritical awareness of climate change[16](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/2/45). Other critics have noted that the film's torture of its heroine presents an allegory of society's misogyny toward mothers while remaining ambiguous about whether it condemns or condones the violence[17](https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/13468/7/Preston-Roberts2023MAByRes.pdf).
## Production
Aronofsky conceived the film one morning while alone at home, contemplating his helplessness in the face of environmental destruction, and decided to build a story around a single emotion, rage, writing for five days about "how it must feel to be Mother Nature"[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother). He later clarified that the five-day figure referred to the initial burst of energy, and that the script went through many drafts afterward[11](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2017/10/13/interview-darren-aronofsky-mother-definitely-technically-difficult-thing-team-ever-attempted/). With Lawrence attached, the film was made within a single year, following a three-month rehearsal process[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother).
**Design and photography.** Production designer Philip Messina, a longtime Aronofsky collaborator, made the house a central character[18](https://www.thegate.ca/film/031689/philip-messina-mother/). The octagonal motif, appearing in the house's shape, light fixtures, door panels, and picture frames, emerged during design work; Aronofsky noted that some Victorian homes were built octagonally because scientists of the era considered it the perfect shape for the brain, and that eight signifies resurrection and regeneration in the Bible[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother). Unable to find a suitable location, the crew built the house's entire first floor from the ground up on land outside Montreal for daytime sequences, and a full three-story house on a soundstage for night scenes[19](https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/mother/). Cinematographer Matthew Libatique shot the film to be fully subjective from Mother's point of view, limiting the visual language to three handheld shot types: singles on Mother, over-the-shoulder shots connecting her to her surroundings, and point-of-view shots showing what she sees[19](https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/mother/).
Lawrence's immersion in the role was intense enough that she hyperventilated hard enough at one point to damage a rib, and the crew built a tent where she could watch television to decompress between takes[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother). For Pfeiffer, the film marked a return to the screen after a years-long hiatus; her previous film had been released in 2013[20](https://time.com/4717260/michelle-pfeiffer-hiatus/).
## Reception
The film divided audiences and critics from its first screenings. At its [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) premiere, Aronofsky told moviegoers from the stage, "Sorry for what I am about to do to you"[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother). Opening-night audiences gave it an F on [CinemaScore](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascore), a grade shared by only a small number of wide releases; among the 14 F-graded films cataloged by Rotten Tomatoes at the time, *mother!* sat at the positive end with a 69% Fresh rating from nearly 200 reviews[4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/is-mother-a-masterpiece-or-a-mess-fans-and-critics-sound-off/). Aggregated figures later settled at a 68% Tomatometer from 377 reviews, a 51% audience score, and a Metacritic rating of 76 out of 100[8](https://movie.guru/mother-movie-review).
Praise and condemnation were both emphatic. Bryan Bishop of *The Verge* called it "a masterpiece" if the purpose of art is to create an emotional response, while [Rex Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/rex-reed) of the *New York Observer* called it a candidate for worst movie of the century and Anthony Lane of *The New Yorker* found its grasp of experience "tenuous, trippy, and, dare one say, adolescent"[4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/is-mother-a-masterpiece-or-a-mess-fans-and-critics-sound-off/).
Commercially, the film opened with $7.5 million and finished with $44.5 million worldwide[8](https://movie.guru/mother-movie-review). Aronofsky responded to the backlash by defending the project's intent, saying the filmmakers knew they would provoke strong reactions and that negative responses were not directed at the craftsmanship or performances[4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/is-mother-a-masterpiece-or-a-mess-fans-and-critics-sound-off/). Paramount's president of marketing and distribution, Megan Colligan, issued a statement calling the film "audacious and brave" and saying, "We don't want all movies to be safe. And it's okay if some people don't like it"[4](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/is-mother-a-masterpiece-or-a-mess-fans-and-critics-sound-off/).
## References
1. [mother! (2017) official trailer, Paramount Pictures (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpICoc65uh0)
2. [Allow Darren Aronofsky to Explain *mother!*, Time (September 21, 2017)](https://time.com/4951193/darren-aronofsky-mother-director/)
3. [mother! (2017) Movie Tickets & Showtimes, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/mother-2017-199804/movie-overview)
4. [Is *mother!* a Masterpiece or a Mess? Fans and Critics Sound Off, Rotten Tomatoes Editorial (September 18, 2017)](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/is-mother-a-masterpiece-or-a-mess-fans-and-critics-sound-off/)
5. [Review: *Mother!*, Ambitious and Dorky, Is Guaranteed to Be Divisive, Time (September 5, 2017)](https://time.com/4927288/mother-review-jennifer-lawrence/)
6. [Mother! Mastermind Darren Aronofsky Explains His Disturbing Fever Dream, Vanity Fair (September 15, 2017)](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-explains-mother)
7. [Earth Root Foundation e-magazine, July 2024 (film summary)](https://earthrootfoundation.org/media/file_uploads/e_magazine/earth_root_july24_OsWi4EQ.pdf)
8. [mother! (2017), movie.guru (aggregated ratings and box office)](https://movie.guru/mother-movie-review)
9. [Darren Aronofsky is sorry for what he's about to do to you with 'mother!', Los Angeles Times (September 13, 2017)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-darren-aronofsky-mother-20170913-story.html)
10. [Jacob Given, "Review: Mother!", Journal for Religion, Film and Media 4/1 (2018), 117–120](https://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/120/112/442)
11. [Interview: Darren Aronofsky on mother!, Awards Daily (October 13, 2017)](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2017/10/13/interview-darren-aronofsky-mother-definitely-technically-difficult-thing-team-ever-attempted/)
12. [mother! – Q&A with Darren Aronofsky and Jennifer Lawrence, National Board of Review (October 13, 2017)](https://nationalboardofreview.org/2017/10/qa-darren-aronofsky-jennifer-lawrence/)
13. [Eric Jarrard, "Jewish Identity and Biblical Exposition in Darren Aronofsky's Films" (quoting Aronofsky's Collider interview)](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b5de28e9d5abb9699c9c296/t/5c34b6a7b8a04568549d150d/1546958504288/Eric%2BJarrard%2B-%2BJewish%2BIdentity%2Band%2BBiblical%2BExposition%2Bin%2BDarren%2BAronofsky%E2%80%99s%2BFilms.pdf)
14. [An Exhaustive List of All the References We Could Find in *Mother!*, Time (September 15, 2017)](https://time.com/4943762/mother-movie-jennifer-lawrence-references/)
15. [Director's Spotlight: Darren Aronofsky on 'Mother!', Elle (September 22, 2017)](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a12440278/darren-aronofsky-mother-director-interview/)
16. [Alexandra Hauke, "A Woman by Nature? Darren Aronofsky's mother! as American Ecofeminist Gothic", Humanities 9(2), 45 (2020)](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/2/45)
17. [Preston-Roberts (2023), "Confined: Motherhood in Twenty-First Century American Film", University of Birmingham thesis](https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/13468/7/Preston-Roberts2023MAByRes.pdf)
18. [Production designer Philip Messina – Creating world of mother!, The GATE (2017)](https://www.thegate.ca/film/031689/philip-messina-mother/)
19. [DP Matthew Libatique delivers an unsettling experience on mother!, Kodak Motion Picture Blog (November 9, 2017)](https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/mother/)
20. [Michelle Pfeiffer Explains Why She Took Time Off From Hollywood, Time (March 29, 2017)](https://time.com/4717260/michelle-pfeiffer-hiatus/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Psychological horror films › Psychological horror films, 2010s and later*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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