**_Looks great, awesome themes, tedious storytelling_**

A renowned poet and his much younger wife (Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem) live in a huge old house in the sticks. He has writer’s block while she’s restoring the house after a fire. When unannounced strangers show up (including Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer), it naturally has a negative effect on the beautiful woman and her world.

“Mother!” (2017) was helmed by Darren Aronofsky, who’s known for artsy stuff like “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Fountain,” but he’s perfectly capable of doing more conventionally entertaining flicks, like “The Wrestler.” This one falls in the former category, although the first act is fairly conventional and compelling in the manner of, say, “What Lies Beneath” or “Cold Creek Manor.”

Yet it gets increasingly incomprehensible and tedious. You could say it starts like a Roman Polanski film, in particular “Cul-de-sac” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” but ends with the surrealism of Luis Buñuel. You’re thinking maybe home invasion à la “Desperate Hours” before the proceedings become unfathomable. Part of the fun of a movie like this is trying to figure out the symbolism and meaning. In this case, you’ll need to be up on biblical material and ecology, otherwise you’ll be lost.

So, I’m in the middle on this unique work. It’s professionally made, Jennifer is beautiful in her prime, it begins interesting enough, and the themes are unforgettable but, as a standard viewing experience, it gets dull and annoying. I never want to see it again, yet I’ll probably be pondering the metaphors the rest of my life. I respect it, but can only recommend it to those who are intrigued. It's not for everyone.

The movie runs 2 hours, 1 minute, and was shot in Montréal and Québec.

GRADE: B-