mother!: 4K Ultra HD Bluray Review
The Movie:
A couple’s relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
This film was shrouded in mystery and even leading up to its release not many people could tell you what the movie was about. Heck, even the synopsis above doesn’t really say much. That was just the tip of the iceberg because this film is on a different level. I wasn’t able to catch it in theaters so I made it a point to not read any spoilers and I wanted to experience it for myself. I have to say, this movie is totally bonkers in the best possible way. First, let’s touch on the fact that upon initial viewing the thing that you may be asking to yourself is “What in the heck is going on here?!” but if you watch it again it’s very apparent that there is a bigger story/message being told. I won’t go into details regarding my take on it because I feel like everyone should have their own interpretation. One thing is for sure and that’s that Darren Aronofsky has created something very unique. I’m not really the biggest Jennifer Lawrence fan but I thought her performance was pretty solid, especially in the third act where things got a lot more intense. Javier Bardem‘s character made me kind of frustrated at first. It was mainly because of his actions but when I started to piece things together I kind of got why he was acting the way he was. Bardem is a fantastic actor so it was a no brainer that his performance was going to be spot on. The overall story did however leave me with the thought if this movie and the way it was so brutal needed to be made the way it was made. It could’ve gotten its point across the same way but in a slightly more delicate manner. I somewhat had a feeling that moments were done for “shock factor” and to make people pay attention but in most cases it isn’t necessary. I thought the film was pretty thought provoking as it was. I will say that this film may not be for everyone. If you aren’t the type to want to analyze a film then there’s a good chance that you’re not going to enjoy it but if you love to dig deep into imagery and symbolism then you’ll definitely want to see this. 8/10
4K Presentation:
It’s funny because the most noticeable differences between formats start when you usually have a blockbuster movie. With this movie you can easily see that it isn’t a blockbuster but that a whole lot went into production. Now with that being said there are are fantastic differences in detail in scenes but in a weird occurrence it still feels very natural and film like. Colors felt much like you would see in a regular film shot movie but the clarity was improved greatly. It was awesomely odd because it felt like the best of both worlds. Film purists can appreciate that there are certain things that were left very natural looking but HDR allows for plenty of clarity in darker scenes (where there are plenty). It’s definitely a really cool presentation of the movie and with an artsy film like this I can appreciate it.
Special Features:
mother! the downward spiral – Aronofsky starts off by telling us that it’s hard to describe the film. After that we get a really great BTS feature that shows us production moments and rehearsals.
The Makeup FX of mother! – Makeup artist Adrien Morot talks about his experiences on the film and what it was like creating what he did.
