I personally am not familiar with most of the religious references some people claim but can hardly explain. I had to read a handful of long reviews to understand the parallels; yes I now see that this is heavily influenced by the subject, but no, that's not the whole point and I think most people are judging from the wrong perspective. This is more, yet so much less (which is not always a problem).I personally loved the chaotic 2nd half when everything "picked up and went to sh*t"; it's like riding a roller coaster in the dark-you know something's coming and it sure did! May not be what you anticipated or the right timing, but after going through hell and back, you can proudly say "THAT was SOMETHING"!I see it as an exaggerated tale that intertwines magic with reality about an abusive relationship-a fairy tale if you will. I picked up right away that the couple WANTS DIFFERENT THINGS, which is one of the most common problems in a relationship that some will compromise (Mother) and some will ignore (Him) until it's too late. He envisioned a different life; he wants fame and life under the spot light with her as merely a tool he couldn't navigate without, while all she wants is a simple life with him. You can put this story under any age and context, with or without the craziness, and still makes sense. The second thing I picked up is that he seems to be able to manifest his desires through the house; it's as if they're in some sort of metaphorical battle to see who will rule the house which represents the life they (supposedly) want together, with the girl constantly losing control by being a pushover (sad, but true in an old "silenced wife" sort of way). He wants to live passionately-drama, excitement, inspirations, the struggles and everything that comes after fame, eventually losing himself and the control over his fans-while she wants none of that, which forces her heart to shut everytime she pays close attention to the house (the life they built together) as he abuses her. At the end when she can't take it anymore, her only option is to end her life and all the chaos (killing her husband as a revenge is just a bonus). He, who thought he can have it all, ends up with nothing and finally questions his self worth, but with her dying glimpse of love, he reassures himself and restarts the losing game.Honestly I was hoping the story took a different direction, in which she's a schizophrenic who's fallen onto the verge of insanity (hence the meds) from a seemingly normal, yet deeply wounding relationship, in which nothing past the sex is real (Who wakes up certain about pregnancy?) but she kills herself at the end anyway, ending both dead. Or they can use that in conjunction with the magic crystal & god-like analogy of a man who may carry some guilt for the death of his ex-wife, yet still go about his life repeating the same mistake hurting others along the way...

Why does everyone feel compelled to review something as the best or worst thing ever. Really? How is that even remotely useful to the reader? It's not a review -that's a rant. For those of you who don't get it, there's a little something called experimental filmmaking. It's been around for about a century, and not designed with mainstream Hollywood consumers in mind. They're art house films, and if you walk blindly into an art house theater, please don't whine because you didn't get a watered down derivative literal narrative. Artists like Darren Aronofsky and David Lynch have been at this craft for quite some time, and they know literal narrative is not hard to pull off. Symbolism, surrealism, multiple layers of perspective, that's a considerable challenge. If it's not for you, it's not for you, but it's tiring to see a convenient dismissal when someone doesn't connect with a piece. Having said that, I don't think this was Aronofsky's best effort. I thought the main concepts and core storyline were fantastic, but felt would have been best realized as a short film and condensed to 40-50 minutes. The themes were repeated to the point of being redundant, and though the point was made, it could have been made more efficiently. I don't see Aronofsky ever eclipsing "Requiem," but this was a solid effort.

Atrae mucho. Hay que fijarse en cada detalle, no es para cualquiera, pero es excelente.

This is such a piece of garbage. I'm sorry for the actors/actresses who are involved, and I'm even more sorry for my wife and I who decided to watch it till the end. I was thinking there would be something, anything, that would make the whole movie make sense, but I owe my wife groveling apology. Sorry, Fran.For what it's worth, it killed 2 hours of my life. Well and truly killed them, although massacred is more appropriate. This film is enough to ensure that I'm going to steer clear of anything that has Darren Aronofsky involved with it.