The trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s highly-anticipated new film mother! has been released, and it’s a real fright. This trailer does not reveal much of the film’s plot (a nice change of pace from most trailers these days), but Oscar bloggers are already hyping up the film’s awards chances. After all, Aronofsky was previously Oscar nominated for Black Swan, and its stars include Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer, who are all huge Academy favorites. But the film is clearly of the psychological horror variety, which traditionally does not jive with the Academy Awards.
From the few details we can gather about mother!, the film stars Lawrence and Bardem as a couple whose life in their peaceful house is disrupted by another couple (Harris and Pfeiffer), who seem to bring all sorts of trouble with them. Some of the trailer’s most striking moments include Lawrence screaming in terror, pictures being set on fire, hoards of people swarming around the house, and Pfeiffer regarding Lawrence in the most deliciously evil way. It is punctuated by a terrifying staccato score, which sends a chill up your spine. While we heard early reports that mother! would be a suspenseful thriller, this looks like an outright horror movie.
It’s no secret that horror is one of the least popular genres in Oscar history. 1973’s The Exorcist, 1975’s Jaws, 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs, and 1999’s The Sixth Sense are the only pure horror films to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, with The Silence of the Lambs being the only horror film to win the big prize. Borderline films that have been nominated for Best Picture that can probably be classified more as suspense/mystery thrillers than horror include 1941’s Suspicion, 1944’s Gaslight, 1945’s Spellbound, and 2010’s Black Swan.
While not prevalent, there are many more performances in horror movies that have been nominated or won at the Oscars, even if their movie wasn’t nominated. Such examples include Kathy Bates in Misery, Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Ruth Gordon in Rosemary’s Baby, in addition to Natalie Portman for the Best Picture nominated Black Swan.
Black Swan was, of course, directed by Aronofsky, so mother! is automatically in the discussion for potential Oscars. All filmmakers who make it “into the club” for a past movie have a greater shot of finding success again than those that haven’t, especially when the cast is full of Oscar favorites as well. Lawrence has one Oscar from four nominations in just six years, while Bardem has one Oscar from three nominations, and Harris and Pfeiffer have three nominations, respectively. The score comes from Jóhan Jóhannsson, who received Oscar nominations for scoring The Theory of Everything and Sicario, while the cinematographer is Matthew Libatique and the editor is Andrew Weisblum, who each received an Oscar nomination for Black Swan.
mother!‘s success is obviously dependent on its quality and maybe even its box office numbers, but it also has to compete against another horror movie in the race: Get Out. That film turned into the biggest runaway success of the year, grossing $175 million at the box office and earning glowing reviews that praised its timely social satire and psychological-based horror. Get Out‘s success is not unlike The Sixth Sense, which became a phenomenon in 1999, grossed $293 million, and ultimately scored six Oscar noms.
Meanwhile, mother! has the potential to match Black Swan‘s Oscar success. Could Lawrence win her second Oscar in six years? Could Pfeiffer finally win her overdue Oscar?
Watch the trailer for mother! below and judge for yourself whether it has the potential for Oscar glory.