I was profoundly moved by the film because there is genuine struggle about the consequences of thinking yourself "chosen" by your Creator for a duty and commitment "no matter where it leads."
Noah's wife loves him dearly, but she loves her children as well. At one point, Noah has become so driven in what he sees
as his mission, he stops being rational and crosses over into that danger zone of fanaticism, turning his back on his family's human needs.
His wife's loyalty to her husband is pitted against her love of family and grand-children.
This is where my training as a Jehovah's Witness kicked in. The alert signal sounded and my adrenal system responded!
How can a loving parent put duty above family?
What makes an otherwise decent person willing to turn their back or even lash out dangerously "in the service of the Almighty"?
I think I know and I think the film's Director wants us to know, too.
Noah becomes dangerously unhinged and the suspense surrounding his absolute certainty is very frightening to people of Faith.
Aronofsky even works in a theme of "willingness to sacrifce a loved one" because it is the will of God. How does this happen?
The mental instability required to consider or carry out such an act is never questioned by true believers.
In this movie, they must!
I was kept on the edge until the end.
How do you remain a person of Faith and Obedience and yet carry out destruction against a loved one?
The film resolves this searing crucial agony in a most extraordinary way.
What is is to be human is explored to the fullest in juxtaposition with inhuman demands.