Mother! of all flops: Jennifer Lawrence horror leads to walkouts, F grade from audiences
The gonzo horror movie Mother! has had an impressively terrible weekend at the US box office, where it has suffered a triquetra of indignities, namely mass walkouts, an F grade from audiences and lacklustre ticket sales.
The film, which has inspired an abundance of explainers attempting to decipher what it all meant, grossed just $7.5 million at the box office despite a significant marketing campaign, making it the lowest wide-release opening of star Jennifer Lawrence's career, and the latest film to enter into the pantheon of movies graced with an "F" score from exiting audience members.
Twitter is abuzz with tales of walkouts during screenings both in the UK and US, with reaction to the film appearing split down the middle – some calling it a masterpiece, others proclaiming it the worst film they've ever seen.
Well, MOTHER! is an absolute masterpiece.
— Joe Grabinski (@JoeGrabinski) September 18, 2017
Just walked out of #Mother. First time in my life I've walked out of a movie.
— Evey Dantes (@EveyDantes) September 15, 2017
Mother! is a stone cold masterpiece and my favourite film this year…you’re also just as likely to hate it as love it. Like the best cinema..
— Ben Howard (@mondoben) September 17, 2017
Walked out in the middle of "mother!" and felt the relief that comes with passing a stone. Would rather go to jail than finish it.
— Chris Jones (@EnswellJones) September 17, 2017
"That was the worst movie I have ever seen in my life" -- woman in the Arclight bathroom who walked out 3/4 of the way through MOTHER
— jen yamato (@jenyamato) September 17, 2017
Whatever you do, if you respect yourself at all, do not go and see Mother at the cinema. 115 minutes I will never ever get back
— Holly Seager (@Holly_Seager) September 16, 2017
Just saw Mother! Amazing film, I couldn't stop laughing at how many people walked out cause of how insane it gets tho
— Original God (@thatweeb) September 17, 2017
The film also received an "F" grade CinemaScore from exit polling at select cinemas across the USA, putting it company with critical darlings like Steven Soderbergh's Solaris, William Friedkin's Bug and the Australian horror flick Wolf Creek, all of which received F grades upon their respective US releases.
Right-wing Americans have also been gloating over the film's financial failure, following an attempt at boycotting Lawrence for comments in which she tied together Donald Trump's election, his stance on climate change, "Mother Nature's wrath" and Hurricane Irma.
"Hate Film Mother! Dies With 'F' CinemaScore And $7.5M Start; Viewers Angry; Lawrence Bashed Trump #MAGA," one Trump fan tweeted.
A similar attempt to boycott It following Stephen King's repeated condemnation of Trump hasn't been quite so successful, with that film currently riding high after grossing $218 million in two weeks.
In any case, Paramount Pictures are admirably sticking by their film, with the studio's worldwide president of marketing Megan Colligan saying in a statement: "This movie is very audacious and brave. You are talking about a director at the top of his game, and an actress at the top her game. They made a movie that was intended to be bold.
"Everyone wants original filmmaking, and everyone celebrates Netflix when they tell a story no one else wants to tell. This is our version. We don't want all movies to be safe. And it's okay if some people don't like it."
