"Mother!"

It's a horror film in theaters right now.

It has seen some success at the box office though.

Some critics are saying the film bashes Christianity.

Joining me now to weigh in on that

is Adam Holz with Focus on the Family's Entertainment Review

Department, Plugged In Online.

So Adam, you wrote that "Mother!"

might be the most scathing, contempt filled attack

upon Christians than ever seen before on screen.

Why do you say that?

Well, at least for the films that I have seen,

I've never seen anything that goes

at some core, core issues in Christianity

the way director Darren Aronofsky's film "Mother!"

does.

I mean, there are scenes that are so graphic that I

can't describe here.

But let's just say that we take some core beliefs about who

God is, who Jesus is, there are visual allusions

to the Eucharist that, man, I just was

shocked at what I was seeing.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing on the screen.

And I think that the perspective we get on God

is that he is impotent, that he is narcissistic,

that he adores his followers adulation of him above all,

and even when they do horrible things he doesn't really care.

And so I thought, on the whole, it's

a pretty condemning perspective of who God is.

And you don't think we've seen this perspective in Hollywood

films before?

No, I think that we have.

What I think was different with this

is there's a scene that involves a baby,

and again, it is so graphic I don't even

feel like I can describe it in much detail,

other than to say horrific things happen.

And that scene sort of is a reference to the Nativity

and also to the Lord's Supper.

And I can't think of very many religious symbols

in other religions where if you did this to them,

it would be OK.

But it seems like it's almost open season on Christianity,

that we can take whatever shots we want at Christianity,

because it's just not something that people

on that side of the culture are really very interested in being

sensitive to or respectful to.

Any thoughts on the motivation as to why this is happening?

You know, Darren Aronofsky is an interesting filmmaker.

He is a secular Jew and avowed atheist.

But if you've seen any of his other films, especially

"Noah," one of his recent films, which was also controversial,

and his first film "Pi," he really, I think,

is attracted to religious and spiritual themes.

But unfortunately, he often comes up with a perspective

that I think is at odds with what we believe as Christians.

EFREM GRAHAM: I think I've read that he's also

studied theology.

Are there any positive elements in the film?

Boy, there's just-- there's not much.

Jennifer Lawrence's character, who is Mother

is absolutely devoted to Javier Bardem's character.

And he's a struggling writer, we think, for most of the movie.

And in the end, we realize he's kind of a God character.

And so she is really sacrificing herself for him.

And I guess you could construe that as a positive thing.

But she's also kind of a doormat for him too.

So some of the reviews that I've read

have talked about how she doesn't really

ever stand up for herself.

So there really is not much positive here at all.

All right Adam, thank you for the work

you do with Plugged In Online.

We appreciate your time.

Thank you.