This title keeps getting pushed further and further up the list of Sci-Fi/Fantasy films so eventually, having drained much of the selection, I went for this one.
The overly pretentious introductory credit sequence should have clued me in but I am not averse to "art"-y films that tend to linger and rely on soft music cues and sometimes inexplicable imagery to get a message across, usually so long as there is an actual message, even if the message is one of entertainment.
Despite my patience for such styles of film, what leaves me decidedly impatient is a film that meanders about, either taking entirely too long to actually begin its storytelling in the mistaken belief that its initial setting and/or its characterizations are strong enough to hold up for nearly 1/3rd of the film's runtime without actually going anywhere (and in this case, it entirely is not), or simply being insufferable.
The characters we are introduced to in this film are insufferable. The elderly couple begins its time onscreen as being almost cute. But the longer the film drags on, leaving us with little actual subject matter and leaving us wondering what the film's name even is, the more this couple becomes insufferable. They banter about in the sort of empty-headed, inane manner that is the punchline of stereotypical Midwestern moron type characters.
What is further infuriating is that the elderly woman dotes over a disgustingly realistic infant doll, treating it like a real baby, even in public. It's horrifying to look at, and one character, a cashier, glares at it in horror and then nothing further is made of it.
After a grueling 20 minutes or so, we finally move on to the next couple, a younger one that is described as being "artistic", engaging in photography that tends to be extremely violent, with the two of them apparently often violently attacking each other for their art. I say they are "described" as such because this plays absolutely no role in their story going onward.
This woman is pregnant, and by this point in the film, happily, we've gone through enough empty film that we can start up the actual plot with this couple.
In short, stuff is happening. That's about as vague as it gets because that's about as vague as the film wants it to get. It's not Nothing happening, it's clearly something. Some manner of explosion occurred over this small town, which news reports claim to be a meteor, and now some people are going missing, some people are walking around in fugue states, some people are suffering burst blood vessels in their eyes, and black horses randomly appear in places.
We get about half way through the film before these events start to unfold, culminating in the ultimate sense of "what the fuddery" as the younger Helen goes to the doctor and... she's not pregnant. She didn't have a miscarriage, she didn't lose the baby, it's just... gone.
Unfortunately, so much time has passed in the film thus far that I as a viewer have completely and utterly disconnected from the characters and the plot. I no longer care for them in any way and have no thoughts on the film other than wondering how soon it will end.
There is nothing to this film in terms of writing, acting, cinematography, or sound design that can hold one's attention long enough to sustain sitting through this incoherent dribble waiting for actual story to unfold. Everything is "average", "acceptable", "ably performed and executed".
It's immensely disappointing that as the film unfolds, more and more insanity and inexplicable phenomena unfold, and yet by the time this all has happened, the film has blown its proverbial load on essentially nothing. A pack of boring, two-dimensional characters, lots of quiet, unremarkable music, and a broad sense of moodiness over nothing in particular.
We are essentially watching a science fiction horror movie unfolding in the background. We are watching a group of ordinary, average people living their lives while a history-making paranormal event is unfolding just off-screen via brief news snippets and occasional background interactions.
Maybe that stuff is lush fodder for "artsy" movies like this, but it was just plain boring and a dismal waste of so much time.
The overly pretentious introductory credit sequence should have clued me in but I am not averse to "art"-y films that tend to linger and rely on soft music cues and sometimes inexplicable imagery to get a message across, usually so long as there is an actual message, even if the message is one of entertainment.
Despite my patience for such styles of film, what leaves me decidedly impatient is a film that meanders about, either taking entirely too long to actually begin its storytelling in the mistaken belief that its initial setting and/or its characterizations are strong enough to hold up for nearly 1/3rd of the film's runtime without actually going anywhere (and in this case, it entirely is not), or simply being insufferable.
The characters we are introduced to in this film are insufferable. The elderly couple begins its time onscreen as being almost cute. But the longer the film drags on, leaving us with little actual subject matter and leaving us wondering what the film's name even is, the more this couple becomes insufferable. They banter about in the sort of empty-headed, inane manner that is the punchline of stereotypical Midwestern moron type characters.
What is further infuriating is that the elderly woman dotes over a disgustingly realistic infant doll, treating it like a real baby, even in public. It's horrifying to look at, and one character, a cashier, glares at it in horror and then nothing further is made of it.
After a grueling 20 minutes or so, we finally move on to the next couple, a younger one that is described as being "artistic", engaging in photography that tends to be extremely violent, with the two of them apparently often violently attacking each other for their art. I say they are "described" as such because this plays absolutely no role in their story going onward.
This woman is pregnant, and by this point in the film, happily, we've gone through enough empty film that we can start up the actual plot with this couple.
In short, stuff is happening. That's about as vague as it gets because that's about as vague as the film wants it to get. It's not Nothing happening, it's clearly something. Some manner of explosion occurred over this small town, which news reports claim to be a meteor, and now some people are going missing, some people are walking around in fugue states, some people are suffering burst blood vessels in their eyes, and black horses randomly appear in places.
We get about half way through the film before these events start to unfold, culminating in the ultimate sense of "what the fuddery" as the younger Helen goes to the doctor and... she's not pregnant. She didn't have a miscarriage, she didn't lose the baby, it's just... gone.
Unfortunately, so much time has passed in the film thus far that I as a viewer have completely and utterly disconnected from the characters and the plot. I no longer care for them in any way and have no thoughts on the film other than wondering how soon it will end.
There is nothing to this film in terms of writing, acting, cinematography, or sound design that can hold one's attention long enough to sustain sitting through this incoherent dribble waiting for actual story to unfold. Everything is "average", "acceptable", "ably performed and executed".
It's immensely disappointing that as the film unfolds, more and more insanity and inexplicable phenomena unfold, and yet by the time this all has happened, the film has blown its proverbial load on essentially nothing. A pack of boring, two-dimensional characters, lots of quiet, unremarkable music, and a broad sense of moodiness over nothing in particular.
We are essentially watching a science fiction horror movie unfolding in the background. We are watching a group of ordinary, average people living their lives while a history-making paranormal event is unfolding just off-screen via brief news snippets and occasional background interactions.
Maybe that stuff is lush fodder for "artsy" movies like this, but it was just plain boring and a dismal waste of so much time.