Mother! Has a Lot of Hype, but Is It Also Scary? Read This to See If You Can Handle It

By now, you have either seen Darren Aronofsky's twisted allegory starring Jennifer Lawrence, Mother!, or you are debating whether to see it because you're afraid you can't handle it. From one scaredy-cat to another, I can tell you what you can expect if that's what's holding you back. Here's how much gore and scariness you can expect from Mother!

Warning: light spoilers for Mother! are ahead.

In the trailers, the score is so haunting that I was convinced I'd be stressed out during the movie. However, in the actual film, that score is absent, and the tension in the first third of the movie is relatively low. Instead, you're just getting to know "Mother" and "Him" (Javier Bardem).

When Ed Harris's character shows up, a few odd things happen (like a surprise object stuck in the toilet), but when you actually see them, they're not scary. The trailers also play up blood on the floor and eerie happenings in the basement, but again, in the movie, they're less frightening and more curious.

One of the first major plot points is someone getting killed in the big house, but the death is more significant to the story because of what it means. There's also almost a good jump scare from Domhnall Gleeson's character, and again, it lacks as much impact as it had in the trailer.

The most violent and graphic events happen in the last part of the movie, just after Mother and Him's home gets invaded by press, then crazy worshippers. You kind of know it's coming by then, but the first really jarring violent scene includes people getting shot at close range. Then an explosion goes off and more people get killed. It happens fast, and it's all more disturbing than visually graphic.

The worst thing that happens in the movie also f*cked with Lawrence's head. Her character delivers a baby (we don't see much of that, happily), but after that, her deranged husband brings the baby downstairs to a group of mad zealots, who claim the baby for their own and kill him (for more specifics on how that goes down, click here). It's pretty awful, but honestly, it's so over the top and fake-looking that I personally could handle it (and I don't have a stomach for much).

Finally, Mother breaks and starts killing people in the crowd herself, slashing and stabbing people; it's bloody, but also fast. Then the crowd turns on her and beats her up pretty maliciously. It's hard to watch just because it's so cruel, and it's kind of a graphic beating.

All in all, if you're curious about Mother!, but are worried it's a horror movie, it's not — but it is pretty dark and disturbing.