What is mother! about?
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)
No. Brace yourself.
Uninvited guests unravel a couple's tranquil home life in a surreal, darkly comic, and bleak drama.
A full-attention watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is devastating.
Streaming on MGM+.
mother! parents guide
It stays inside its R, with real scares and a jolt or two.
- Scare
- Properly scary
- Frightening, not just tense.
- Jump scares
- A couple
- One or two sudden jolts.
- Gore
- Graphic gore
- Blood and wounds shown clearly.
- Violence
- Brutal violence
- Our top level for violence.
- Sex and nudity
- Moderate
- Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
- Language
- Moderate
- Some strong profanity, a few f-words.
How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.
Three questions
- Is mother! scary?
- Yes, properly. mother! is the real thing without being an endurance test.
- How gory is mother!?
- Graphic gore and brutal violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.
- What is mother! rated, and is it OK for kids?
- It is an R, with real scares, moderate sex and nudity, and brutal violence. Keep it for adults.
Cast and crew
Directed byDarren Aronofsky
StarringJennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson
More like mother!
Black Swan (2010)Properly scary · light gore · emotionally devastating · measuredA ballerina's pursuit of perfection unravels her mind in a bleak and darkly comic descent.
Fight Club (1999)Gritty · graphic gore · brutal violence · emotionally devastatingAn insomniac and a soap salesman unleash primal aggression, igniting a darkly comic, surreal spiral toward oblivion.
The Shining (1980)Terrifying · graphic gore · brutal violence · emotionally devastatingA family's isolated winter retreat becomes a slow-burn descent into chilling, surreal madness.
Parasite (2019)Darkly comic · graphic gore · brutal violence · emotionally devastatingA poor family's grift of the wealthy Parks escalates into a darkly comic and bleakly suspenseful class struggle.
Joker (2019)Bleak · graphic gore · brutal violence · emotionally devastatingA measured descent into madness unfolds as a comedian's dark satire fuels Gotham's gritty, bleak chaos.
It (2017)Terrifying · graphic gore · strong violence · emotionally heavyChildhood fears manifest as a shape-shifting clown while young outcasts confront terror in a bleak Maine town.
Pearl (2022)Mildly scary · graphic gore · brutal violence · emotionally devastatingA farm girl's desperate yearning for stardom turns increasingly bloody under her mother's watchful eye.
Obsession (2026)Properly scary · extreme gore · brutal violence · emotionally heavyA hopeless romantic's wish for love turns chillingly dark, as desire comes with a sinister, pulpy price.
mother! is on our Horror list.
More like this feeling
Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.
Lists with the same feel: Tearjerkers and Weird and surreal.
Five more like mother!
Say the mood. Five picks with where they stream, right here.
Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.