10 Most Divisive Movies Of 2017

3. Mother!

mother! Jennifer Lawrence
Paramount Pictures

Darren Aronofsky's films have always been divisive: Black Swan baffled some audiences, but wowed others; Noah contained some impressive spectacle, but drew criticism from religious groups; and The Fountain... well, that was either genius or ludicrous, depending on your stance.

But, somewhat impressively, 2017's mother! might be his most divisive film yet.

This was destined to be the outcome from very early on, after the film was booed and applauded in equal measure during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and when the film released in September, this mixed response continued.

Variety called it a movie "that’s about everything and nothing", and the BBC called it a "pretentious mess", but on the other hand, The Hollywood Reporter said it was "a very Rosemary’s Baby-like intimate horror tale", while other outlets called it breathtaking, surreal, and challenging. Divisive is an understatement.

Mother! really was a tale of extreme opposites. The movie spawned thinkpieces declaring it one of the best movies of the year, but in other places, it was named one of the worst. The film captured the attention of the industry for both good and bad reasons, and though this didn't translate into box-office dollars, it will forever be remembered as Aronofsky's most polarizing effort.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!