Its plot, inspired by the Bible, follows a young woman whose tranquil life with her husband at their country home is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious couple, leading to a series of increasingly chaotic and destructive events.

In the burned-out remains of a large house, Him, an acclaimed poet struggling with writer's block, places a crystal object on a pedestal in his study, and the building morphs into a beautiful home in an edenic landscape.

Mother is increasingly frustrated by her guests, but Him begs her to let them stay, revealing that Man is actually a fan whose dying wish was to meet Him.

Mother cleans up and notices strange damage to the house, including a fly, a frog, and blood that will not stop dripping.

Mother and Him are roused that night when dozens of people arrive unannounced at the house to mourn the dead son.

The visitors behave in rude and presumptuous ways that irritate Mother, and she snaps and orders everyone to leave when they break a sink, partially flooding the house.

Mother tries to lock the doors, but droves of fans pour inside and begin to wreak havoc, damaging the house.

Him is oblivious, but a disoriented Mother watches helplessly as military forces turn up to battle members of the cult that has sprung up around Him; his publicist organizes mass executions.

He begs Mother to forgive them, but she runs down to the basement oil-tank and ignites the oil, causing an explosion that incinerates the crowd and destroys the house.

He asks if her love still exists; with her permission, he removes her heart from her chest, tearing it open to reveal a new crystal object.

[2] On a production budget of $30 million,[2] principal photography began in Montreal, Québec under the shooting title Day 6 from June to August 2016.

[15] Composer Ólafur Arnalds recounted the following story about this decision: ... he had spent a year writing the score for Darren Aronofsky's Mother!

[16]Over the closing credits, the film features a cover of Skeeter Davis's "The End of the World" performed by Patti Smith.

[25] Apparition Media painted over it without council permission, replacing it with a giant portrait of Jennifer Lawrence and the caption "#mothermovie."

"[26] Apparition Media apologised and word of the incident also reached Aronofsky himself, who tweeted that he was "embarrassed and furious" and would pay for the mural to be restored.

[3] In North America, the film was released alongside American Assassin and was projected to gross $12–14 million from 2,368 theaters in its opening weekend.

Deadline Hollywood attributed the film's underperformance to its controversial narrative, misleading advertisements, and "F" CinemaScore grade.

[30] Other publications wrote that the film's CinemaScore grade, which is rare, is typically associated with "a movie that goes out of its way to artfully alienate or confuse audiences.

received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Aronofsky's direction and the performances, particularly those of Lawrence and Pfeiffer,[35][36][37] while its biblical allegories and depiction of violence was scrutinized by some news outlets.

"[42] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

"[44] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film three and a half out of four stars, describing it and Aronofsky's direction as an "artist's cry from his own corrupt heart" and "a work of a visionary".

He also praised the film's allegorical narrative and the performances of Lawrence, Bardem, and Pfeiffer, and said, positively, that the cinematography "always seems on the verge of exploding".

[45] Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips said: "Darren Aronofsky delivers a damning critique of the artist/muse arrangement, even as he admits to its old-fashioned patriarchal simplicity."

"[49] In an essay for The Hollywood Reporter, Martin Scorsese said: "It was so tactile, so beautifully staged and acted—the subjective camera and the POV reverse angles, always in motion ... the sound design, which comes at the viewer from around corners and leads you deeper and deeper into the nightmare ... the unfolding of the story, which very gradually becomes more and more upsetting as the film goes forward.

[51] Rex Reed gave the film zero stars in The New York Observer, and wrote that, despite some good cinematography, "Nothing about Mother!

makes one lick of sense as Darren Aronofsky's corny vision of madness turns more hilarious than scary.

"[54] In The Wall Street Journal, John Anderson said: "it achieves a level of excess that makes the whole enterprise increasingly cartoonish, rather than just awful.

[56] Writing for The Washington Post, Anne Hornaday gave the film two stars, saying: "Even Lawrence's magnetic powers can't keep Mother!

Unlike the mansion it's set in, it's a small, hammered-together thing, and it can't bear all this meaning and metaphor.

"[59] David Edelstein of New York magazine shrugged off the film and any talk of its craft, writing: "Most of the dialogue and effects are clunky, repetitive, second rate.