What Does The Ending Of mother! Really Mean?

1. The Baby Was Obviously Christ

Whoever you choose to believe is God, the baby that sits at the centre of the film's most controversial imagery (let's state it overtly, it's a horrific, horrific sequence) is clearly Jesus Christ. He is presented, purely, to mankind and is slaughtered and devoured before Him says that the only way to move on is to find a way to forgive the killers of their sins. It's basically a disturbing distillation of the Christ story.

Linked to that, there's a sort of allegory about forgiving the crimes of the past. Without forgiveness, the film states, we are doomed to destroy ourselves - whether in despair or vengeance - and to endlessly relive the same sins over and over. That's a fairly depressing thought, to be perfectly honest.

There are other religious elements in there as well - the new poem is the New Testament, the ceremony of marking followers' heads is the mark of Ash Wednesday, the bloodied spot on the floor is the stigmata of Christ, and there are character names on the castlist including Herald, Penitent and Good Samaritan.

Basically, if you look with even a tiny bit of religious knowledge, you'll see there's a lot to piss off the clergy.

Do you feel like you understood mother!? Share your own interpretation below in the comments thread.