“Mother!” is a demented film from director Darren Aronofsky (“Noah”, “Black Swan”). The movie is biblical allegory and while it does not always seem convey the messages of scripture all that well, it does create an engaging surreal experience from start to finish.

A couple (Jennifer Lawrence “The Hunger Games”, Javier Bardem “No Country For Old Men”) find their peaceful existence disturbed when uninvited guests arrive at their remote mansion home. At first, it is just mildly inconveniencing but the presence of others soon descends into a situation so bad that it threatens their surroundings and even their relationship with one another.

Nobody in “Mother!” actually has a name. Lawrence’s character is merely credited as ‘Mother’ and Bardem’s as ‘Him’. The film focuses on Mother as she tries to maintain some form of order while everything around her is becoming more chaotic. Lawrence does a really great job. Bardem is good as Him. The interactions between the two are interesting to watch. Many of the other characters do not doing anything bad, they are just merely invading the space of the main characters; they make Lawrence’s character feel invisible. It’s fascinating to watch so much tension created by people’s mere close proximity to others.

“Mother!” has caused controversy for some of its graphic imagery and I can understand why but I think it helps create a truly nightmarish scenario. The film finds unconventional and refreshing ways to explore religious and philosophical themes and concepts. As with “Noah”, some people seem to be just wanting to criticise the film because it deviates so much from “The Bible” but I would prefer to just take it for what it is because no movie is going to be a substitute for “The Bible”. This is a powerful psychological film that is definitely worth checking out.