| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jennifer Lawrence | ... | Mother | |
| Javier Bardem | ... | Him | |
| Ed Harris | ... | Man | |
| Michelle Pfeiffer | ... | Woman | |
| Brian Gleeson | ... | Younger Brother | |
| Domhnall Gleeson | ... | Oldest Son | |
| Jovan Adepo | ... | Cupbearer | |
| Amanda Chiu | ... | Damsel | |
| Patricia Summersett | ... | Consoler | |
| Eric Davis | ... | Bumbler | |
| Raphael Grosz-Harvey | ... | Philanderer | |
| Emily Hampshire | ... | Fool | |
| Abraham Aronofsky | ... | Wanderer | |
| Luis Oliva | ... | Idler | |
| Stephanie Ng Wan | ... | Whisperer | |
Amidst a wild flat meadow encircled by an Edenic lush forest, a couple have cocooned themselves in a secluded mansion that was not so long ago burned to the ground, devotedly restored by the supportive wife. Within this safe environment, the once famous middle-aged poet husband is desirous of creating his magnum opus; however, he seems unable to break out of the persistent creative rut that haunts him. Then, unexpectedly, a knock at the door, the sudden arrival of a cryptic late-night visitor and his intrusive wife will stimulate the writer's stagnant imagination. Little by little, much to the perplexed wife's surprise, the more chaos he lets in their haven, the better for his punctured male ego. In the end, will this incremental mess blemish, irreparably, the couple's inviolable sanctuary? Written by Nick Riganas
As I say in the title of my review, it is neither artful nor profound to jam every possible reference and metaphor into your movie. It's lazy. It means you have no clear direction and/or are trying to appear meaningful while being unable to resist inserting your own 'struggle' into the 'high concept'... as though you are equating yourself with the existential conflicts of gods and nature... I should think this is the penultimate epitome of pretentiousness and narcissism.
Yes, I got ALL the possible meanings of everything thrust into this amalgamation of horror and pseudo-philosophy tropes. And that was the problem... they were ALL THERE. There was no one idea prevailing; it was, as other reviewers noted, throwing all the poo against the wall and seeing what stuck... and the result was merely akin to a port-a-potty explosion.
The only reason I've given it a 2 was that there were so many abysmal movies this year that this one does rise a little higher by comparison... but only barely.
This is a movie for all the art-house crowd who believe their own self-delusions of brilliance and the Hollywood elite who pat themselves on the back ceaselessly.
I would compare it to the absurdly high praise for "Boyhood".