Paramount Doesn't Care How Much You Hate Mother!, OK?

Updated on Sep 23, 2017 at 10:05 AM

To call Mother! a divisive movie would be just about the biggest understatement of 2017. Darren Aronofsky's brutal new thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem is essentially a violent, bloody allegory for . . . a few things, actually. Audiences who flocked to theaters expecting to see a run-of-the-mill horror movie might not have been disappointed, but a lot of people certainly walked out confused (or walked out of the movie early, period).

Because of all this, the daring film, which isn't exactly a surprise from the director of Black Swan and Requiem For a Dream, ended up pulling in a shockingly bad "F" rating on poll-based website Cinemascore (the worst score that can be given by audiences). The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Paramount worldwide president of marketing and distribution Megan Colligan to get her take on why it's inspired such backlash.

"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 of 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."

Do we detect a hint of shade thrown Netflix's way? Regardless, Paramount clearly doesn't care if you hate Mother!. It loves all the biblical themes, intense stabbings, and that baby scene enough for all of us.