There are dark films, and then there are sadistic ones. “Mother” crosses that line.

Director Darren Aronofsky is no stranger to dark films, having crafted some heavy drama and thrills with “Requiem for a Dream,” “Black Swan” and “The Wrestler,” which were all easily worth watching. The guy has proved he can do good films. This is his first one that could be called sadistic — and rather confused and pretentious as well.

At its core, it intends to be an attack on Christianity and possibly even the concept of a god itself, but really it just comes off as a big middle finger to the entire human race. It’s also unfortunate that average theatergoer will be tricked by the previews into thinking “Mother” is a horror film when it’s not.

About those previews: If you’ve seen one for “Mother,” you’d think it might be the second in a great one-two horror movie punch this month along with “It.” Let’s clear this up: If “Mother” is a horror film, it doesn’t decide to be one until its last 15 to 20 minutes or so. The comparison to “Rosemary’s Baby” in terms of format — a creepy slow burn to a horrifically revealing finale — is there. The problem is, however, that the entire thing is so vague with its symbolic imagery, there’s a good chance you will be very confused unless you read the plot on Wikipedia or a few reviews beforehand.

Jennifer Lawrence plays Mother, her name unrevealed until the end credits. Her older husband, Javier Bardem, is credited during the same end credits as Him. They live in an old, beautiful home Mother is refurbishing, happily doting on her husband, a poet with severe writer’s block. She seems content painting the walls, making food, and fixing up the place to her heart’s content.

One night her husband lets in a strange, lost visitor (Ed Harris). The next day, the stranger’s wife shows up, and then eventually their two sons. Things escalate, and eventually more strange people begin to arrive, eventually leading to apocalyptic consequences.

Thar be spoilers beyond this point, be warned all ye who read further.

Nothing in the movie is meant to be taken at face value, or as real-world, reality-bound events happening. The movie is literally one huge metaphor for God, several significant events in the Bible, and Mother Earth. Bardem represents God, Lawrence is supposed to be Mother Earth, and the first strangers represent Adam, Eve, etc.

The events happening in the movie are not supposed to be taken at face value at all, only what their significance represents. This would be a fantastic idea if it had been executed with a bit more thought and less vagueness. Even anyone who’s well-read in the Bible might not pick up the film’s true meaning unless pointed in the right direction.

One problem here might stem from the fact that Aronofsky started dating Jennifer Lawrence during production, and this couldn’t be more obvious in retrospect. Her face takes up 90 percent of the screen time here, the camera following her around like an obnoxious housefly.

The chaos that eventually ensues is supposed to represent a multitude of things, but it’s never quite clarified. Riots break out, pagan rituals start happening, people are caged, molotovs are thrown, police show up — all because crowds of people arrive to hear Him’s greatest new work, an unidentified poem on a single page, representing the Bible.

Eventually Mother gives birth to a child, which is assumed to represent Christ. This is even confusing, as now it might make the viewer who has actually caught on to whether she is supposed to be the Virgin Mary or still Mother Earth. It does not end well for that baby, and neither does it for the audience when they witness the big shock moment of the film.

The message of the movie essentially is that God is an attention-seeking narcissist, and that everything is awful because he’s let so many people into his house to worship him, that they eventually destroy Mother Earth’s sanity and creations in the name of their adoration for him.

Whether or not you believe in a higher power is irrelevant. If Aronofsky wanted to convey a message of atheism, that’s all well and good . But the way he does it in “Mother” just comes off as pretentious and elitist no matter what your beliefs, and it especially gives atheists and humanists a bad name as an artsy-fartsy piece in the name of such ideals.

The movie is cruel to everybody and kind to no one except Aronofksy’s ego and Lawrence’s headshot portfolio.

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“Mother” is currently playing at the Riverside Cinemas, 1017 S. Boone St. in Aberdeen.

George Haerle holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing for media and lives in Cosmopolis.