Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! has proven to be a divisive film, with some critics, including The A.V. Club’s Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, praising the “elaborate meta-textual pastiche,” while others have compared it to The Emoji Movie in terms of sheer unpleasantness. Moviegoers, however, aren’t nearly so split on the film, which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in what the director says is a Biblical allegory (and a batshit one at that). Audiences have made their feelings about Mother! known through dispiritingly low ticket sales and the elusive “F” CinemaScore grade.
But the negative reviews and low audience turnout haven’t really dampened Aronofsky’s enthusiasm for the film. In a recent Reddit AMA, he defended the project, writing “it was my idea and i was really proud of the team that executed it. easy and cheap but it took a lot of work and hopefully it was effective. the idea was to remind everyone that everything around us is part of our mother.” And even though his message has clearly been lost on some, the director said he’s been thinking adapting Mother! for a different medium. When asked about the possibility of a stage production, Aronofsky replied that “Jóhann Jóhannsson [Mother!’s composer] and I are thinking about turning it into an opera.” This, despite the fact that Johansson and Aronofsky ultimately decided to scrap the former’s score for Mother!. But the movie’s melodrama, combined with fact that most of the film takes place in a single setting, should lend itself well to a stage adaptation.
Aronofsky wrapped the AMA by encouraging moviegoers to “keep supporting films that strive to be different.” And in case you were wondering, he’s a big Rick And Morty fan.