Mother! elicits boos and cheers at the Venice Film Festival

Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem star in Darren Aronofsky's new film as a couple plagued by uninvited guests

Mother! premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a mix of boos and wild applause: which means it's guaranteed to be one of the most interesting films of the year.

The film reached its first screening under a tight veil of secrecy, scant on plot descriptions and with a smattering of enigmatic posters and trailers; written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, it stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem as a couple whose quaint existence is brutally interrupted by the arrival of uninvited guests.

Multiple attendees at the Venice press screening have reported a mixed reaction of audible boos and cheers to the film, and the first smatterings of opinions reaching the internet have proved divisive.

There has certainly been praise aplenty, with The Telegraph's Robbie Collin stating that "my insides have turned to porridge". Others have named it "breathtaking", with The Hollywood Reporter's early review declaring it "a very Rosemary’s Baby-like intimate horror tale".

But mother! hasn't won everyone over. Variety named it "a baroque nightmare that’s about nothing but itself", while on Twitter it was called a "mess" and a "self-referential, near ridiculous trip".

You can find out for yourself when mother! hits UK cinemas 15 September.

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