Mother

Darren Aronofsky’s mother! is an intriguing little beast. After two trailers, all we know is that it stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ed Harris, and it involves a couple whose relationship is more than tested after they invite another pair of folks into their home. Aronofsky himself also isn’t too forthcoming, but said that he was so inspired when he got the idea for the movie that he churned out a draft in just a couple of days.

The latest trailer for mother! is arguably more effective than the first — hard to imagine after that initial and completely bonkers sneak peek, I know. But this one uses sound and dialogue to unnerving effect, and although doing more telling than showing seems counterintuitive, it’s a concept that works brilliantly in the second trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s new film, and his first since 2014’s Noah.

There’s a whole lot to talk through in the newly released trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s psycho-horror fever dream mother!, but first things first: when will casting directors stop marring Jennifer Lawrence off to disproportionately older men? She was 17 years Christian Bale’s junior in American Hustle, 16 years younger than Silver Linings Playbook costar Bradley Cooper, and 14 years behind Joy’s Edgar Ramirez. Now, she trails newest romantic opposite Javier Bardem by a staggering 22 years. Is all of Hollywood under the impression that she’s Benjamin Buttoning, and secretly in her mid forties? We love to rag on Passengers (because it is not a good film, to be fair), but at least it gave Lawrence a boytoy slightly closer to her age range.

[Jerry Seinfeld voice] What’s the deal with mother!? It’s nothing short of impressive that a film with personnel as high-profile as Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, and director Darren Aronofsky has been able to remain an almost complete enigma with one short month separating it from its premieres at the film festivals in Venice and Toronto. We recently got a teaser trailer that raised more questions than it answered, promising that a dark spiral of psychological horror — in a form kept out of view — would visit happy couple Bardem and Lawrence. And then there was that baffling theatrical poster, with artwork tastefully depicting Lawrence ripping her own heart from her chest.

I don‘t particularly know what is going on in this first teaser for mother! It’s 30 seconds of Jennifer Lawrence wandering around a house while a series of voices are heard on the soundtrack. But, really, I don’t need to know very much. Jennifer Lawrence plus writer/director Darren Aronofsky is pretty much enough.

For a movie directed by a well-regarded arthouse stalwart with mainstream appeal and starring an actress who was the biggest movie star on Earth as recently as three years ago, it’s weird that mother! has remained almost entirely shrouded by secrecy. We know that Darren Aronofsky’s new movie stars Jennifer Lawrence, it’s some manner of home-invasion psychothriller, and the cast includes Javier Bardem, Kristen Wiig, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer. We saw the poster, which finds JLaw ripping her own heart out in a lush vernal scene like Mola Ram on vacation in Argentina. But apart from that, it’s a big, strange question mark. Word on the street says a trailer is on its way, and yet it’s still impressive that a project this high-profile has gotten so far while remaining almost totally incognito.

Now that’s how you celebrate Mother’s Day. Earlier today, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky shared the first poster for mother!, his new horror/thriller featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. With an angelic expression on Lawerence’s face in the above excerpt, you might be forgiven for thinking that this poster is a kind and gentle teaser for a movie that is more creepy than graphic. Well, by all means, don’t let me stop you from scrolling down to reveal the full horrifying artwork on the mother! poster below.

Last night brought bad news from Paramount for Friday the 13th fan looking forward to the long-delayed reboot (or good news for those not wanting it to happen). But it also gave Darren Aronofsky fans something to get hyped about. We finally have a date for the director’s next project.

Setting aside the squirm-inducing recent reports that Darren Aronofsky and Jennifer Lawrence are dating (let’s just not even), the director’s next project remains one of our most highly-anticipated new films of…well, whenever. According to Paramount, “whenever” is sometime in 2017, and we finally have a name for this mysterious thriller, so we can stop referring to it as “Darren Aronofsky’s mysterious new thriller and oh by the way did you know that he’s dating Jennifer Lawrence, weird, right?”