Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Directed by
Jeff Nichols Starring Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain and Shea Whigham
Chosen by David
My overall reaction is having really enjoyed this, while having felt really uncomfortable throughout. It definitely felt unique among other contemporary films, the closest in recent years being the more slick and accomplished 'No Country for Old Men'.
ReplyDeleteThe positives were the lead roles, both of whom acted flawlessly and had me believing their every movement. Shannon especially is worthy of all the praise he is receiving at the moment.
The subject of mental illness as an approaching storm was extremely well handled and I found myself really invested in his journey.
Nichols direction felt very understated and at no point was he trying to rewrite the book or distract from the story with gimmicks.
Any negatives I could point at this film is that is was perhaps slower than it needed to be and you could probably shave a half hour off. That said, the tension and emotional release you get from the films revelations perhaps might not have been so intense were it sped up. Perhaps instead what was needed was more of the emotional outbursts like in the canteen to beef up his condition.
The ending, at first, seemed somewhat disappointing. We all felt the Inception-style 'make up your own mind' final scene a little cheap but having digested it a little more I think it was actually a fitting end. I have a clear picture of how the director wanted me to feel and what his intentions where; a happy end with a dark twist. For that reason I can see influences from the likes of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest' (which being one the all time greats is potentially a dangerous comparison).
I will have to carefully pick who I recommend this to given the uncomfortable feeling it induced but highly recommend the other MCL members who missed it to give it a try.
8/10
Mental illness does make people uncomfortable and for a movie to achieve the same is praise enough from me....also refrained from usual hollywood/happy ending ....good choice, Dave
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with all your points Dave.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping this would turn into a modern day The Shining (which is one of my favourites) but the director/writer never allowed the main character to really 'lose it'. But we all agreed in the end that that helped with maintaining the intensity and pressure of the film, which contributed to me squirming uncomfortably in my seat for 2 hrs - poor wee management didn't help either.
A film i really enjoyed but didn't necessarily like - if that makes any sense. not sure i would recommend this film to anyone, and would rather they took the decision themselves to make the effort and go and see it, because it's worth it.
Emotionally drained afterwards and movie club attendees are now well overdue some mindless eye candy - Smurfs 3D anoyone....!
7.5/10