What Does The Ending Of mother! Really Mean?

9. The Ending

Just when you think we're getting a slightly weird home invasion mystery with some supernatural teases (and the faintest suggestion that Javier Bardem is the devilish focus of a cult's adoration), the last 20 minutes of mother! go absolutely wild.

From the moment the poet impregnates his wife and the film skips 9 months, it's a tumble down into weirdness. At the point of conception (or the point at which it's revealed), Him is immediately filled with inspiration to write and eventually crafts a single page work that proves to be his magnum opus and a focal point for renewed fervour from his fans.

They turn up to celebrate him in their droves, invading the house and quickly unleashing anarchy as their adoration turns into something more violent. They rip the house to pieces, seeking to leave a mark of their existence and terrorise Mother as she goes into labour.

Everything basically then descends into a fever dream that could easily double for a late 1990s Metallica video. Swat police turn up and battle the "fans" and Mother gives birth, only to have the infant cruelly snatched away by Him, who seeks to show off his progeny. Somewhat inevitably, the baby is killed (and, extra weirdly, eaten), Mother goes insane with rage and kills some of the murderers before destroying them, herself and the house in a fire.

As she lies dying, Him removes her heart (and crushes it to reveal another of his mysterious diamonds), and when he replaces it in the strange mount its predecessor sat in, the house resets and Mother is reborn in a direct mirror of the opening shot of the movie. Only this time, it's not Jennifer Lawrence. Cue countless WTFs, and frantic lunges towards Google.

So what does it all mean?