Darren Aronofsky reacts to 'mother!'s' 'F' CinemaScore

Director Darren Aronofsky has finally responded to 'mother!'s notorious "F" grade which his latest film has received from CinemaScore.

In a Q&A with The Frame's John Horn following a screening of the film at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Aronofsky said, "What's interesting about that is, like, how if you walk out of this movie are you not going to give it an 'F?' It's a punch. It's a total punch."

The director also revealed that he wanted to make a punk movie and come at people.

He said, "I realize that we were excited by that. We wanted to make a punk movie and come at you. And the reason I wanted to come is because I was very sad and I had a lot of anguish and I wanted to express it. Filmmaking is such a hard journey. People are constantly saying no to you. And to wake up every morning and get out of bed and to face all those 'no's, you have to be willing to really believe in something."

'mother!' is just one of 19 films to earn a dreaded "F" grade from CinemaScore, alongside other box office underperformers 'The Wicker Man', 'The Box' and 'Killing Them Softly'.

Aronofsky explained that in his initial pitch to his collaborators and stars of mother! (which include Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem), he said, "this isn't going to be a popularity contest."

Adding, "We're basically holding up a mirror to what's going on. All of us are doing this. But that final chapter hasn't been written and hopefully things can change. And, to go back, the fact that it's going down right now and things are really falling apart in a way that is really scary."

The director went on to express that mother! was his chance to "howl."

"Some people are not going to want to listen to it. That's cool," he said.