I don't know what to make of this film. It feels simultaneously kind of moving and dull. Maybe I had high expectations that were too high. Before watching the film, I'd read several reviews about how amazing, raw, and transcendent this film was. So, while watching, I kept waiting for something big or truly searing to happen, but that never came. So when the film ended, I thought to myself, "Is that really it?" This could've been so much more disturbing and visceral than it was. There is so much unwarranted hype around this film. It's meandering, unengaging, and uninvolving. The film could've been darker and more cumbersome, thus packing more of a wallop.
Don't get me wrong here. It does have some strengths. While watching, I was enamored with Saoirse Ronan's acting. She truly shines here in a powerhouse performance that's equal parts explosive and subtle. But great acting and cinematography don't make a great movie if the writing is tenuous and unengaging much of the time, as is the case here. At times the film is intoxicating and sobering. And at times it's jejune and tedious. There is no real plot here. Much like the lead character, the film itself is quite aimless. We pretty much just follow a young woman dealing with alcoholism and how that affects people, and that's pretty much it; not much really happens.
I know the film is based on a memoir, and in that format, the travelogue moments work. But on film, it's very jarring to jump from scenes of seeing a young woman in the throes of alcoholism to pictorials of Orkney animals and landscapes. This happens multiple times throughout the film. It just felt really strange and unnecessary. The same thing happens with the random moments of Rona narrating about the island's mythological history feels odd and arbitrary. The narration in general doesn't add much to the film.
The editing really sullies the film. The pacing is mediocre, with some parts of the film interesting and moving, and some parts of the film really slow and boring. There are random jump cuts and things are told out-of-sequence to the point that it's confusing. The change in Rona's hair color is apparently used as a device for the audience to understand where in time she is, but it doesn't help much. The film is supposed to be grounded, poignant, and touching, and it does sometimes feel that way, but much of the time isn't really. It feels kind of cold. The few surreal and lighter scenes of Rona conducting the sea and the weather, of her swimming amongst the seals, of her in a rave that only turns out to be a memory, and of her acting like she's riding a ship when in reality she was in a building overseeing the sea, were interesting and fun.
The film is worth checking out, albeit I'm sure some will find it dull. The acting is great. I mentioned Ronan, who will likely deservedly receive an Oscar nomination for her performance in this, but Stephen Dillane and Paapa Essiedu are also standouts. The cinematography and the film's use of lighting, punctuated by the landscapes and the contrast of the urban London versus the bucolic Orkney, is beautiful.
