History Film / Mother2017

* SpiritualSuccessor: This movie, like Aronofsky's previous film ''Film/{{Noah}}'', is an adaptation of the Literature/BookOfGenesis, albeit an allegorical adaptation rather than a literal one. The themes are also similar -- focusing on humanity's depravity and abuse of the natural world -- although this time the outlook begins quite positive and gets bleaker while ''Noah'' went in the opposite direction.

[[folder: #-F]]

* CassandraTruth: Mother repeatedly warns her unwanted guests the kitchen sink won't hold their weight when they lean or sit on it. They ignore her and taunt her by intentionally bouncing up and down on it, at which point it breaks off and begins to flood the house, bringing their party to an end. [[spoiler: A reference to the Great Flood and/or climate change.]]

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Barring any invisible [[TimeSkip Time Skips]], the first half of the movie (before mother's pregnancy) takes place over the course of three days, the second half over the course of two. [[spoiler:Particularly blatant as the second half gives us the rise of a militaristic theocratic government ''within the course of one evening'' and ''[[ClosedCircle localized to one house]]''.]] Justified, as by the second half the film gives up all pretense of hiding its nature as an allegory for [[spoiler:Literature/TheBible and all of human history]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Man has an injury on his ribs, which Him tries to help cover up. The next day, the Woman--the Man's wife--arrives. God took a piece of Adam's ribs to create Eve.
** After Mother becomes pregnant, she jokingly makes a remark about [[spoiler: getting started on the Apocalypse]].

[[folder: G-M]]

* GirlyGirl: Zigzagged. Mother is proud and happy to do all of the traditional {{Housewife}} tasks like cooking and cleaning, but she also takes on the physically strenuous work of plumbing and carpentry in renovating her house. And while everyone finds her beautiful, other women like the Woman and the Herald (Him's publicist) seem to look down on her for her simple clothes and lack of sophistication. [[spoiler: All plays into her true identity as personified Nature.]]

* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Man's constant smoking despite mother's admonition she doesn't allow cigarettes in the house establishes him as a {{Jerkass}} and repeatedly causes minor damage to mother's home and possessions. [[spoiler: Thanks to mother swiping Man's [[ChekhovsGun lighter]], his smoking even indirectly causes the apocalyptic ending of the film.]]

* HumanoidAbomination: Potentially [[spoiler: '''''EVERYONE.''''']]

* IronicEcho: The priest repeats Him's eulogy at the Younger Brother's wake as a benediction while his followers [[spoiler: ritually murder Him's son and consume his flesh.]]
* ImAHumanitarian: [[spoiler: Not only does Mother's child]] get brutally killed, his killers then proceed to partake in his flesh.
* InformedAbility: Him's brilliance as a writer, which everyone is in awe of -- including mother, even when she's otherwise upset with Him -- never gets shared with the audience. This plays into how the audience likely finds him less likable or sympathetic than [[CharacterShilling everyone onscreen seems to]]. His eulogy for Younger Brother, which moves everyone present to tears, is a fairly standard AlwaysWithYou speech (though to be fair in that moment he's improvising, and deep in the throes of a months-long WritersBlock). In ordinary conversation he's hardly particularly eloquent or persuasive -- most notably in his [[ShutUpKirk total failure to talk down Oldest Son]] [[spoiler: or mother]] from violence.

** [[spoiler:The Woman never gets any call out for her sociopathic and crass comments on Mother. It's not even known if she was in the crowd of people who were burned alive when Mother finally [[KillItWithFire destroyed the house]]]]. [[spoiler: Him as well considering he simply resets everything anew]].
** Subverted with [[spoiler: Him's followers until they ate Mother's baby and she finally snapped and destroys them with the fire.]]

* MadeOfIncendium: [[spoiler: Setting fire to the oil tank instantly burns up not only the house, but also the surrounding lawn, woods and possibly the entire world.]]

* MessianicArchetype: There are two. The baby that mother conceives with Him is an obvious stand in for Christ coming down from his birth to his [[spoiler: [[TwistedEucharist killing and subsequent cannibalization by Him's followers]] ]]. Mother can be seen as a representation of many different aspects such as Mother Nature, the Virgin Mary, and later a SatanicArchetype. The film makes a point in how mother continually gives and gives, culminating in her [[spoiler:willingly giving her heart]] to Him so that he could start again. She is even carried by Him in a fashion similar to how the Virgin Mary is said to have held Jesus when he was removed from the cross.

[[folder: N-S]]

* NotSoDifferentRemark: The Oldest Son [[spoiler:, a.k.a. the murderer, Cain,]] comes back to the house to retrieve his wallet to find a terrified mother. Rather than attack her, he bemusedly asks, "They left you here all alone?... So you do understand", then leaves peacefully. [[spoiler: Foreshadows the ending in which the mother, in a rage over the murder of her child and the indifference of Him, kills all of Him's fans and herself.]]

-->'''mother''': (''to Him'') You won't even ''fuck'' me.
--> This time, you get the ''fuck'' out of my house!

-->[[spoiler: "I gave you ''everything''! You gave it all away."]]
** [[spoiler: And of course, the aforementioned MakeMeWannaShout scene afterwards has mother ''furiously'' call everyone (including Him) monsters.]]

[[folder: T-Z]]

* UnwantedFalseFaith: A variation. Him ''loves'' being adored by the crowd, but when that adoration somehow turns into war, slavery, mass murder and [[spoiler: killing and eating his own son]] Him appears to be just as horrified as mother is... but not, apparently, horrified enough to lift a finger to stop it, or even to tell them to stop doing it. (Quite likely a TakeThat to [[spoiler: the Christian God who, in some versions of Christian belief, [[TheGodsMustBeLazy fell silent]] after giving the Bible to mankind, doing nothing to stop the subsequent false doctrines and resulting atrocities.]])
* ViciousCycle: [[spoiler: Considering the beginning of the film focuses with a precursor to mother doing the same thing that she did, the titular mother, and then Him's new wife after restarting everything, chances are the entire film can be seen as a never-ending cycle where "mother" endures hell, gives birth, and eventually destroys everything only for Him to repeat it again.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler: Mother 's offspring]] is gutted and devoured by the hordes of strangers in the house.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Mother is barefoot for the entire film. Even when the Woman criticizes her for being under-dressed at a social event, she changes clothes but never puts shoes on. Doubles as EarthyBarefootCharacter.

* GeniusLoci: Mother. It gradually becomes apparent that she experiences invasion of or damage to the house as physical pain, and her emotional distress makes the house buckle and shake. She alone of all the characters never steps off the house's front porch into the outside world. (See DoesNotLikeShoes above.) And it turns out the heartbeat she hears within the walls is her own.

* OutDamnedSpot: The Younger Brother's blood won't wash out of the floorboards no matter how hard mother scrubs. The stain spreads, seeping through anything she uses to cover it up, and is revealed to have corrosive properties, eating its way through the house's foundation to reveal the hidden boiler room. [[spoiler:The Younger Brother is Abel, whose blood "cries out for vengeance" in Genesis.]]

* ExcitedShowTitle: ''mother!''

** The film's take on the Judeo-Christian theology which it addresses via allegory falls apart on the basis of FridgeLogic. To start with, in Aronofsky's view [[spoiler:mother represents Mother Nature and Him is God the Father. Now "mother nature" is not a biblical concept at all. It's a folkloric concept, dating to 1266 AD, i.e. less than a thousand years old. Secondly, if Him is God, and mother is Earth and if God created the earth, then that would mean the married couple are committing incest and Him is marrying and impregnating his own daughter. However, that last part is consistent with the biblical conception of Jesus.]]
** The film implies that [[spoiler:the baby is Jesus and getting eaten by people is meant as a TakeThat about how HumansAreBastards. The problem is that Jesus intended to and willingly chose to sacrifice himself for humanity, his death happened while he was an adult, and after a day and a half he was resurrected]].
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Teased, then averted. Mother hopes once Him has a child he will finally put his family before his pathological need to please his fans. He does not. To a horrifying degree.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler:Mother. She more or less is a nice and decent person who while reluctant, does go on with Him's apparent hospitality to the people around them. When they keep endlessly pushing her and cause the death of her baby, [[GaiasVengeance she shows no mercy]].]]

** [[spoiler:When Him tries to convince her to forgive the people for killing their child, she lets out one that's so infuriated that it ''breaks'' the house foundations and cements her as a status of Mother Nature]].

* BlatantLies: The Man shows up on Him and mother's doorstep randomly, claiming to have been told their house (in the middle of nowhere with no road leading to it) is a B&B. Then he discovers by pure chance Him is his favorite author and a role model of his. Mother is unsurprised when poking in his luggage reveals a photo of Him, indicating the Man was a stalker from the beginning.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Played straight with [[spoiler:The baby who feels nothing but hunger, love and pain before his death. Brutally defied with the children in the crowd who are shown eating pieces of him alongside the adults]].
* CoitusUninterruptus: After Man and Woman violate the only rule mother gave them and break Him's crystal she goes to their room to kick them out -- only to find them shamelessly having wild sex with the door unlocked. A reference to the cultural association between the ForbiddenFruit and the act of sex. Woman's bra has a leaf motif in this scene, referring to Adam and Eve hiding their nakedness with leaves.

* CreativeClosingCredits: The credits are in a "handwritten" font mimicking Him's writing on parchment during the film, with a few stray strokes added as they roll implying he's still writing even now. A gesture to the idea that Him is an AuthorAvatar for Aronofsky.

* CreepyBasement: Very much so early on when mother goes down there and [[spoiler: finds the mysterious oil room]]. Becomes a ChekhovsGun as well.

* MindScrew: It's a Darren Aronofsky film. The trailer doesn't tell you anything about the plot. Even the promotional posters look vague such as the posters of [[http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mother-poster.jpeg Jennifer Lawrence]], holding a bloody heart which seems to be cut out from her chest and [[http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/dgmxhskuaaaleey.jpg Javier Bardem]], holding an orb with an image of a baby while sitting in the flames of screaming faces.

* MuseAbuse: Him's publisher refers to mother as Him's "inspiration". His WritersBlock comes to an end after they make love, and from what little we see his new poem is directly inspired by his relationship with her and her role in bringing the house and its surroundings back to life. This doesn't stop Him from consistently treating her as, essentially, the least important person in his life -- prioritizing her after his publisher, the press and any random stranger who says they admire his work. [[TheDogBitesBack This eventually has consequences.]]

--> This time you get the ''fuck'' out of my house!

** [[spoiler: And of course, the aforementioned MakeMeWannaShout scene afterwards has mother ''furiously'' call everyone (including Him) monsters]].

* ThroughHisStomach: Mother prepares a lavish feast for Him -- while nine months pregnant -- to celebrate the success of his new book. Him expresses his awe at her effort, and we're treated to a lingering view of the spread -- but then Him's guests arrive, and he unhesitatingly lets them treat it like a convenient buffet. (This is essentially the whole movie in microcosm.)

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: mother, and [[spoiler:her baby]] both appear to be this, before it's inverted, and revealed that actually, one of the main messages is that [[spoiler:the earth is too good for its horrible inhabitants.]]

* WritersSuck: Him's profession is as a poet, and his narcissism, hunger for praise and casual neglect of his marriage all seem to be tied to his art. May double as SelfDeprecation on Creator/DarrenAronofsky's part, especially considering he's dating [[Creator/JenniferLawrence the actress who plays mother]] in RealLife.

* AnachronismStew: Although Man and Woman's dialogue -- and their cellphones -- seem to indicate the story takes place in the modern day, Him and mother's house contains no appliances more advanced than a simple washer/dryer set and a landline phone. mother says they've chosen to live a simple life, but Him doing his writing using a fountain pen on parchment (!) seems extreme. (And [[FridgeLogic raises the question]] of how exactly he submitted the manuscript to his publisher.) Justified in that the film is intended as a surreal allegory, and shortly after the publication of Him's new book all pretense of realism breaks down completely.

* TheAlcoholic: Man and Woman seem unable to function without alcohol -- Man with his beloved hip flask and Woman with her "special lemonade recipe". Seems to be a trait shared by most of their friends and family.

* AllThereInTheManual: Audience members at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival were given [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/09/10/darren_aronofky_s_mother_comes_with_its_own_version_of_the_lord_s_prayer.html cards printed with a gender-reversed version of the Lord's Prayer]] written by feminist author Rebecca Solnit. This card pretty much spoils the central "twist" that the movie is a [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructive]] biblical allegory that criticizes Abrahamic religion.

The idea for ''mother!'' came to Aronofsky while he was working on a children's film following the release of ''Film/{{Noah}}''; he reportedly wrote the film's first draft in an uncharacteristically fast five days.

''mother!'' is a 2017 PsychologicalHorror film by Creator/DarrenAronofsky. It stars Creator/JavierBardem, Creator/JenniferLawrence, Creator/EdHarris, and Creator/MichellePfeiffer, among others.

%% Writing Zero Context Examples, also known as putting down a Character's name and not explaining what a trope is or how it applies, is NOT permitted on the Wiki. Please put context to the examples.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Many reviewers mention the odd-looking octagonal house in the middle of a mysteriously isolated meadow as contributing to the surreal atmosphere of the film. Of course, the house wasn't built for the film -- it was an existing abandoned house found by location scouts in Yonkers, NY, and it turns out both the design of the house and layout of the grounds were fairly typical of country homes in the Victorian era.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Maybe not myths, but mother is apparently [[spoiler:both the the mother of Christ (i.e. Mary) and. Mother Nature herself]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids Although the film wasn't for families to begin with]], the most recognizable instance is [[spoiler:the baby]]'s demise. Yeesh.

* ForcefulKiss: mother confronts Him, furious and in tears about their SexlessMarriage, and he responds with one of these. She resists, saying "No" several times before beginning to passionately reciprocate. Note the UnfortunateImplications that the only overtly sexual contact between Him and mother in the movie is non-consensual.

** The film implies that [[spoiler:the baby is Jesus and getting eaten by people is meant as a TakeThat about how HumansAreBastards. The problem is that Jesus intended to and willingly chose to sacrifice himself for humanity. And after a day and a half he was resurrected and his death happened as an adult.]].

** [[spoiler:She finally lets out one when Him tries to have her forgive the people for killing their child that's so infuriated that it ''breaks'' the house foundations and cements her as a status of Mother Nature]].

* BilingualBonus: One portion of the crowd at the end is chanting "So, So, So, Solidarité!" (means exactly what it seems to), while another chants "¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!" (The people united will never be defeated). Both are used in protests in certain places around the world.

* {{Bookends}}: [[spoiler:The film begins and ends with the death of a young woman, Him placing a jewel on a pedestal, the house regenerating itself from its ashes, and a new woman waking up in bed and calling, "Baby?"]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:After her child's brutal murder and cannibalism, mother flies into a rage and burns the entire house down, leaving Him as the only survivor. Afterwards, Him rips her heart out of her charred body revealing a gem inside which he uses to begin again, restoring the destroyed house to brand new after placing it on a pedestal. Furthermore, he now has an even younger wife and it's very likely that everything that happened will ultimately repeat itself.]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids Although it wasn't for families to begin with]], but the most recognizable of the film is [[spoiler:the baby]]'s demise. Yeesh.

* FanDumb: In-universe UpToEleven example. Him's followers take their love his works to such extremes that it results in absolute pandemonium, murder and eventually [[spoiler:mother killing all of them out of anger for the abuse they put her through]].

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: PlayedForDrama, UpToEleven. First man and woman...then literally ''everybody'' in the house.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler:Mother. She more or less is a nice and decent person who while reluctant, does go on with Him's apparent hospitality to the people around them. When they keep endlessly pushing her and cause the death of her baby, ''[[KillThemAll she shows]]'' '''''[[GaiasRevenge no fucking mercy]]''''']].

* GetOut: Mother. Again, and again, ''and again'', '''and again'''. Until she finally [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge makes them do it]].

* BigNo: Several, courtesy of [[spoiler:Mother]].

* [[spoiler: ViciousCycle]]: [[spoiler: Considering the beginning of the film focuses with a precursor to mother doing the same thing that she did, the titular mother, and then Him's new wife after restarting everything, chances are the entire film can be seen as a never-ending cycle where "mother" endures hell, gives birth, and eventually destroys everything only for Him to repeat it again.]]

* AdultFear:
** Being treated with casual contempt by everyone around you, and being [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslit]] by the people who supposedly love you most that their behavior is normal and acceptable.
** [[spoiler:The fear of your baby being taken away and hosted around to strangers is cringe inducing. ''Especially with what happened afterwards''.]]

* NotSoDifferent: The Oldest Son [[spoiler:, a.k.a. the murderer, Cain,]] comes back to the house to retrieve his wallet to find a terrified mother. Rather than attack her, he bemusedly asks, "They left you here all alone?... So you do understand", then leaves peacefully. [[spoiler: Foreshadows the ending in which the mother, in a rage over the murder of her child and the indifference of Him, kills all of Him's fans and herself.]]
** Ironically also applies to Woman, mother's {{Foil}} and the person whose indifference Oldest Son was angry about in the above speech. Woman says of Oldest Son, "You give and you give and it's never enough," a line which mother repeats to Him [[spoiler:before she blows up the house]].
** From what little we hear of Man and Woman's family drama ''all'' of them have at some point felt neglected and taken for granted the way mother does, in contrast to the one-sidedness of Him and mother's relationship. [[spoiler:This makes sense since, while Him and mother are abstractions, Man's family are actual human beings.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} "seeing is believing."]]'']]

* TwentyFourHourPartyPeople: The mysterious constant stream of new guests to the Younger Brother's wake whose connection to the family is never explained and who seem more interested in debauchery than mourning. Gets worse in the second act when they switch focus to Him.

* CultOfPersonality: Him's fans start as this. Over time the "cult" part gets increasingly literal.

* HellIsThatNoise: The trailer's music sounds like someone's trying to saw a violin complete with JumpScare.

* HumanoidAbomination: Potentially [[spoiler: ''' ''EVERYONE.'' ''']]

The tranquil existence of a poet "Him" (Bardem) and his pregnant wife "Mother" (Lawrence) is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious Man (Harris) at the couple's country home. The Man's presence leads to a string of uninvited visitors, who are all welcomed by Him. Meanwhile, Mother grows alarmed by the presence of the strangers, who impose more and more on her hospitality. With Him deaf to her pleas, she's left increasingly helpless as circumstances spiral [[FromBadToWorse wildly out of control]].

* BigShutUp: [[spoiler:When Man and Woman break Him's jewel and start copiously apologizing and asking if they can pay for another one, Him silences them both with a loud '''"QUIET!"''' -- easily the angriest we've seen him thus far in the movie.]]

* GutPunch: [[spoiler:The sound of the baby's]] spine cracking.

* AllLowercaseLetters: What the film's title and character names are styled like.
* AllMythsAreTrue: Maybe not myths, but mother is apparently [[spoiler:both the the mother of Christ (i.e. Mary) and. Mother Nature herself]]

* SatanicArchetype: Mother becomes one towards the end. Upon seeing more and more people arrive at the house, she becomes increasingly angered with Him for allowing these people into their house, which culminates in her [[spoiler: burning the house down]] in an apocalyptic-style event. She also talks to Woman about the crystallized object that Him keeps in his study, which can be interpreted as the Serpent tempting Eve with the Forbidden Fruit. Her heart becoming blackened towards the end can also be taken as her ultimate fall from grace.

* WomanInWhite: We are introduced to mother in a sheer white nightgown and, in keeping with the "innocence" version of this trope, no shoes. She changes her wardrobe during the film but always keeps to neutral white and gray clothing, in contrast to the Woman's sophisticated outfits and racy underwear -- notably she has no black clothes to wear to the Younger Brother's wake.