Movie Review: Jennifer Lawrence's 'mother!' births an insane piece of audacious art

USA TODAY
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY

Movie poster starring Jennifer Lawrence

Darren Aronofsky unleashes the mother of audacious art films this year, and mother! is bound to polarize the masses who give this slice of winning insanity a go. The latest in a filmography that also includes a terrifyingly dark ballerina (Black Swan) and a downward-spiraling pro grappler (The Wrestler), mother! (*** out of four; rated R; in theaters nationwide Friday) manages to be the writer/director's boldest yet: a tale of relationship turmoil and a genre-exploding showcase for its star Jennifer Lawrence. But Aronofsky isn’t subtle with the deeper meanings. Impending motherhood is seen through a horror-movie lens, there are enough religious metaphors for a particularly strange Sunday school class, and mother! thrives most as a thoughtful and angry look at modern society. [More]