Annette (2021) User Reviews

Exhibitionist emotional manipulation

[brankocerny · 5/10 · 7 July 2021]

This might be an unpopular opinion here as the film was selected to open Cannes, and so clearly the committee of experts saw a lot of artistic merit to it. To me, however, it felt like a student play that tries so so hard to be avant-garde that it forgets to be anything else.

I went to a premiere in Prague and halfway in, people were leaving the theater in droves. That's not necessarily the sign of a bad film to me - not everything is for everyone. I still wanted to like it: I like stylized films. I enjoy the surreal. I'm here for the modern musical, genre-melding, society critique. But I had to fight the growing urge to leave myself.

The positives first: you can see the budget at work, the set design and photography are fabulous. Even the 4th wall breaking beginning with the director himself kicking off the film was kind of cheekily confident and got me excited. The pacing is intense and there's a lot of energy. The leads are obviously fantastic actors.

None of that saves the film, however. For being so tightly paced and filled with intensity and musical numbers - it's actually really boring. All the songs follow the same lazy pattern and so while you enjoy the first couple, eventually you find out it's really just people singing one sentence over and over to a rock/opera backdrop.

Adam Driver's performance, especially on stage as a comedian, is powerful - but he kind of stays in just one gloomy tortured emo cry baby position and you don't get to see much of his redeeming qualities (like you did in, say, A Star is Born). Marion Cotillard's characters is essentially just a figure head for kindness and purity who doesn't get much real space to act.

The film is long but the story basic and utterly predictable. There is a lot of emotional manipulation. You're shown a lot of "gasp" shots like Adam Driver performing oral sex on his pregnant wife, her wiping herself on the toilet, and the story overall develops into more and more troubling areas. This comes with a growing visceral gut punch: the general reception of the film where I saw it was people were feeling kind of anxious and sick to their stomach. That could be a good thing, some of the most powerful cinema is very visceral and art doesn't have to be pretty - if only there were some real substance to justify that. But if you just show the inevitable tragic decline of a family and tightly pack increasingly disquieting sights and atmosphere - but don't really show any real development to your characters or give the audience a proper chance to care about them because everything is delivered just as a singing chapter title - well what you get is 2.5hrs or visually stunning emotional manipulation that is hollow at its core.

The whole thing left me feeling like an artist who is so preoccupied with being artsy that he forgot what's beautiful about art in the first place. If anyone finds its heart, please point me to it.

Not your every-day-cinema

[OneLastSushi · 7/10 · 12 July 2021]

This is some very strange movie, but I kind of liked it and stayed interested in how the story would end. Had some very weird decisions and shots in it, but all in all I appreciated the efford and the 'unperfectness' it showed. Also it leaves a lot of space for interpretations. Driver and Cotillard are top-notch and even Helberg fitted in quite well. Drivers 'comedy'-shows were great! All in all I recomment the movie to all arthouse-lovers. If you want to watch a blockbuster, go somewhere else.

Is it a movie or a bizzare modern opera?

[gnekhin · 7/10 · 18 August 2021]

This film reminded me of a new wave of opera directors, who, it seems, only want to find an interesting way to make another performance and not to tell a new exciting Story. I assume that opera directors don't have to find new stories anymore, as the audience doesn't even want a new story, they are much more interested in an another original look at the existing one.

With all this out of the way, I think, that "Annette" is not being understood correctly. The story (even if it's slow and dull) isn't the only thing that makes a movie. If you find yourself watching this film again, pay attention to the acting and editing of the movie. If not for editing I would have assumed that I'm watching a recording of a modern opera or a theater piece. That's why I can recommend this film only to the dauntless among you, namely to the opera fans, who want to see something modern without an additional classical orchestra, and also to the "Sparks" fans, who no matter what will be really happy to hear "Spark" songs in an expensive musical video with a transparent plot.

I have 2 grades for this picture. If I was grading a movie I would have given it 6/10. If opera than 8/10. At average the picture gets 7/10.

'We love each other so much.'

[TxMike · 24 August 2021]

I like the main actors here, when I saw the initial trailer some time back I wrote it on my calendar, I was anxious to see it.

It is a very peculiar movie, mostly using the form of singing dialog. A recurring one is the melody "We love each other so much." However as the story moves along we wonder if Driver's stand up comic character really can love anyone.

It is long, I watched it in probably four different sittings, roughly a half-hour each time. I really was entertained by the experimental approach and its emotional extremes. However if you strip it all down it is a plain story. For me the most interesting scene is about 10 minutes from the end, when dad and Annette, now a young girl, do a face-to-face singing number, I was taken aback by how good and with proper emotion the young girl's singing and acting was.

I am glad I watched it, I like to experience all kinds of approaches in movie-making, but I didn't even invite my wife to join me, I know she would not have lasted 15 minutes. I would think most mainstream movie fans would NOT enjoy this one and watch it to its conclusion.

At home, on Amazon streaming.

Carax and Sparks fly

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 5 August 2021]

Greetings again from the darkness. The anticipation of seeing a film directed by Leos Carax (HOLY MOTORS, 2012), and written and scored by Ron Mael and Russell Mael of Sparks fame, is derived from expecting the unexpected ... experiencing something we've never before experienced cinematically. And although the film is likely to be quite divisive - beloved by some, dismissed by others, confusing for all - the ingenuity, creativity, and risk-taking are quite something to behold. As for the narrative coherence? Well that's quite a different topic.

A mere six weeks ago I watched and reviewed Edgar Wright's excellent documentary THE SPARKS BROTHERS, where Ron and Russell discussed their affinity and vision for movies, despite a few near misses over the years. This particular material was originally conceived as a rock opera album, and it's probable that very few directors would even attempt the transition to the big screen. It would be equally challenging as an opera, a play, or a stage musical. In simple terms, this is a musical-drama-romance; however in reality, it's confoundingly difficult to define or describe.

The opening sequence begins in a recording studio with director Carax at the sound board as the Sparks band performs "So May We Start?" Soon they are marching the streets of Santa Monica, joined in singing the song by the lead actors of the movie we are about to watch. The narrator tells us, "Breathing will not be tolerated", which takes on a touch of irony during a pandemic.

Adam Driver stars as Henry, an offbeat stand-up comedian, and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard stars as Ann, a popular opera singer. Henry bills himself as 'The Ape of God' and performs an abrasive comedy act that is interactive with his audience. He psyches up for each performance by shadow-boxing in a robe while puffing on a cigarette. Ann is often shown alone on stage (Catherine Trottman sings the opera parts, while Ms. Cotillard sings the rest). The couple is engaged when we open, and they later marry, have a child (the titular Annette), and take different approaches to their career. Henry and Ann are polar opposites and that's best exemplified by how they end their respective shows: he 'moons' his audience, while she gracefully bows in appreciation.

Henry is a man filled with love, yet clueless on how to love. He's a tortured soul - the kind that doesn't believe he deserves the life he has and finds a way to self-destruct. Henry and Ann are passionate lovers and their duet "We Love Each Other So Much" has the most unusual timing that you'll see in a musical; in fact, the musical interludes (with repeating lyrics) often arise at the most inopportune (or at least unexpected) moments. Ms. Cotillard's talents are never fully utilized, while much of the film's weight is carried by Mr. Driver.

After tragedy strikes, the story becomes quite bizarre with Henry and "Baby Annette". To say more would spoil that which should remain surprising. Simon Helberg's role as conductor increases in the second half, and his character's past with Ann lends itself to the complexity of relationships. This is a dark love story, and one that befuddles right up to the end. Director Carax and the Mael brothers could slide into the Avant-garde corner, but that might scare off even more potential viewers, so let's use 'fantastical' instead. Sometimes it tries a bit too hard to shock or agitate, and the stories are a bit discordant, but it's all for a good cause: provocation. The film, dedicated to Carax's daughter Nastya (who appears in the opening sequence), sometimes feels like the wild nightmares that you (mostly) don't want to end. And that's about all that should be said to preserve the experience.

This Musical opens in theaters on August 6, 2021 and on Amazon Prime Video on August 20, 2021.

Truly original cinematic experience

[andyge · 10/10 · 22 August 2021]

Wow!!! This is what great cinema is all about....breaking boundaries,being experimental ... doing something different . Firstly this is not a musical it is a modern film opera.. there's not many of them ...so don't think you are going to come out whistling a happy tune. This is a visually stunning film with some truly epic set pieces.

There is a serious message as well for this 'me too ' generation about man's need to act and be like god and control all aspects of life ..including death . There is symbolic imagery all over the film too from the marionette Ann ette to the Eve like apples that Marion Cotillard keeps biting into .. or is that representing Snow White.

Carax gives this film everything he's got and I have to admit half way through I was all for giving up but somehow he pulls you round and by the end you can see his intentions and reasoning behind the imagery and performances. This is a film you can wait years for and I can assure you are not going to forget. Driver and Cottilard are on epic form . Stick with this film for a truly great experience. WELCOME BACK TO CINEMA!!!!

Bold colors and wan vocals

[Andrew-Henry-Enriquez · 7/10 · 22 August 2021]

"Annette" is not a conventional film musical, instead seeming like something you'd see in a black box theater with a small cast playing multiple roles and some not-quite-avant-garde staging.

The visual style crossfades between mundane, (nighttime motorcycle rides, the same winking lights of Los Angeles seen from the foothills of so many films), magical realism (opera stages that become moonlit glades), and abstract. Intentionally absurdist TMZ-style segments introduce new phases of the story.

The music is repetitive and wan, with Adam Driver producing many of the same thin, scratchy falsetto sounds as Hugh Jackman in "Les Mis" Marion Cotillard alternately signing for herself and obviously dubbed.

The vocal lines often remind me of sections of Sondheim, when he uses quasi-tonal, wan phrasing such as in the song "Barcelona." He uses it much more sparingly than this score, which seldom builds into much melody. This, of course, could be intentional. The important repeated bit of song "we love each other so much" might actually be intended to ironically suggest desperation and insufficiency in the emotion.

The story is simple and deals with cardboard cutouts of characters, by design-- which is why Annette herself is so strangely effective.

This is her film, after all, though Driver's Henry McHenry-- an edgy, self-loathing standup comedian-- is the central focus, really.

Simon Helberg-- somewhat reprising his accompanist role from "Florence Foster Jenkins" has some of the more interesting moments of acting, and is the subject of a particularly bravura circular tracking shot that's the real filmmaking highlight of the latter part of the film.

All in all, an impressive, if bewildering, fever dream of film that is not the sum of its parts, and doesn't add up to much, but will enchant you with its visuals and haunt you with its oversimplified plainsong.

The first 3 minutes are good!

[jjjj · 1/10 · 14 September 2021]

The opening musical number is very enjoyable; the remaining 2+ hours are dreary, repetitive, unimaginative, predictable, and unpleasant.

The low raters are going in on the wrong premise

[jeffbharris · 9/10 · 20 August 2021]

You don't go into this film blindly, as if you're going to watch a mainstream film, wondering "will it be good?" You also don't go into this film because you're a Driver/Cotillard/Helberg/puppet fan. You go into.this film as a fan, knowing, "getting", or think you "get" Sparks or Carax. It's the Maels vision of their concept album, manifested into a scripted film. Getting, or thinking you get Sparks is a very important part of the mindset you need to appreciate this output. I've been a 45 year Sparks fan. I see them around cafes and various parties in LA. They're incredible siblings. They're anomalies. When you meet them, they are normal, nice, affable people, but their visions of creativity (and nonstop work ethic) have no boundaries. They experiment with and push the the edges of the evolution of their craft. If you've followed their evolution of their music, you can see this film being perfectly what it should be. Maybe not for everyone.

I saw the film at the LA preview a couple days ago, where the brothers also played a music set before the film. The film can be slow in parts - but in the end, I left the film the way I believe the Maels/Carax intended - feeling weird, somewhat uncomfy, amazed, and satisfied all in one.

That's my feeling - I hope I've experienced what was intended.

Highly unusual yet profoundly traditional opera/musical drama

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 22 August 2021]

As "Annette" (2021 release; 140 min.) opens, the brothers Ron and Russell Mael and the rest of their band Sparks are in the studio, bursting into "So May We Start". Ron and Russell soon leave the studio, and walk outside onto the street, soon joined by Adam Drive, Marion Cotillard, and others from the cast. Adam and Marion soon change into their characters, resp. Henry, a stand-up comedian, and Ann, an opera soprano. Henry and Ann are in the middle of a whirlwind romance... At this point we are 10 min. Into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film from French director Leos Carax ("Les Amants du Pont-Neuf"). Here he takes and builds on an original story from Ron and Russell Mael, who also wrote all of the music and lyrics. The Mael brothers are of course the brains behind the long-running L. A. rock band Sparks, whose commercial heydays were in the 1970s with albums like Kimono My House, and Propaganda. They thought up this by today's standards highly unusual film, which brings an opera/musical drama to life. As in a real opera, the plot advances slowly but steadily, and runs quite long. In that sense, this is a very traditional opera/musical drama. The title character Annette refers to the daughter born to Henry and Ann, and all I will say is that it isn't your usual baby... Just watch! Let me address the many outright negative reviews on here: what in the world were you expecting? This isn't your run-of-the-mill superheroes movie (the many, many, many Marvel films come to mind) or popcorn action movie (the Fast & Furious franchise comes to mind). "Annette" is a one-of-a-kind, completely original film, the likes of which are frankly rarely made anymore these days, and for that we should be very, very thankful. Is the film without flaws? Of course not (for example, Henry's second standup-up segment, set in Vegas, runs far too long and doesn't advance the plot). If you saw the excellent "Sparks Brothers" documentary earlier this year, you already knew that a sizeable part of "Annette" was shot in Belgium (Brussels and Bruges, in particular). Being originally from Belgium myself, I had a fun time trying to match up which scenes had been filmed there. Last but not least, the production budget for this film was an incredible $15 million, a mere pittance by Hollywood standards.

"Annette" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival to positive buzz. It opened in select theaters for a 2 week theater run, and this weekend it premiered on Amazon Prime, where I caught it. Frankly, I felt that the movie got better as it went along and the drama unfolds before our very eyes. If you are in the mood for an opera/musical drama or simply are a fan of Sparks, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it on Amazon Prime, Amazon Instant Video or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

a musical in the world of Carax

[dromasca · 8/10 · 13 September 2021]

Anyone who ventures to watch a film by Leos Carax must know that he has a good chance of going through a unique cinematic experience. 'Annette', which made its debut at the delayed Cannes Film Festival in 2021, is no exception. Of course, movie lovers can make attempts to place this film in one or more categories - for example musical, rock opera, family melodrama, social comedy - and they will all be right (with a high degree of approximation). 'Annette' is all these but first and foremost a Leos Carax movie - it's weird, dramatic, grotesque, sentimental, absurd, baroque, desperate. It is a film that you can expect a quarter of the audience to leave the cinema hall quite early during the screening, with many of the remaining ones being fascinated and enchanted until the last scene. This also happened at the screening I attended. Needless to say, I'm one of those who are irresistibly drawn into the fantasy world of Carax movies, and doesn't plan to escape from it anytime soon, even if 'Annette' has good chances of disappointing many of his fans.

The director warns us from the formidable scene that opens the film that we will witness a musical theatre show - a musical or rock opera, I never understood exactly the boundaries between these genres arelaid. We are invited backstage and on stage before the curtain rises. The actors, the extras, the choir, the musicians prepare for the show, gather and then go out together in an opening number filmed as a single long frame composed of many beautiful minutes. We meet the lead characters, a couple in love who are also celebrities: Henry is a stand-up comedian who balances humour about himself and cynicism. Ann is an opera singer specialising in roles that inevitably end with the death of the heroine. Henry and Ann declare their love in another memorable musical number. They're getting married. A child is born - Annette - who will not be an ordinary child. I stop here with the story so as not to spoil the pleasure of those who will see the film. I will only mention that there are many elements in the story that can be described as belonging to the romantic melodrama, that various and serious themes are approached, and that the rules of the musicals genre are strictly observed in the film which is almost completely missing spoken lines. And, of course, the film belongs to Carax's universe.

'Annette' doesn't seem want to be loved, but I loved a lot of things in it. The music belongs to the Mael brothers (a.k.a. Sparks group). Adam Driver's performance is formidable and I think I saw in this film one of the Academy Awards nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Marion Cotillard seemed a little underused in this film. It is also worth mentioning the performance of Simon Helberg, in a secondary, but significant role. The cinematography of Caroline Champetier creates the illusion of a stage show with special effects. The use of the wooden puppet that embodies Annette is worth a discussion. Many will love the solution, I was not excited. I understand that it is part of the concept, but the emotional distancing through aesthetics always makes me uncomfortable. In other of his films, I resonated with the characters of Leos Carax, even if I didn't always fully understand them. In 'Annette' the opposite happened. The characters in the film are open and explicit, but it was hard for me to identify with them. The film addresses some important issues - the star system, the avidity of the media in search of sensational and scandal, the violence of men in relationships, the exploitation of wonder artist children - but, avoiding sentimentality, the director installed a barrier between the story in the film and viewers that I I couldn't get through it completely. When does this usually happen to me? At some opera performances. Maybe, when we think of this film, out the phrase 'rock opera' what we have to remember is 'opera'.

Not for squares.

[fede4488 · 9/10 · 21 August 2021]

If you expected a traditional musical with a love story and catchy songs like La La Land, then yeah, you're going to hate this. But if you open your mind for two and a half hours, then you might enjoy this.

Wildly creative musical on love and fame from the wildly eccentric Sparks Brothers.

[JohnDeSando · 7 August 2021]

The art pop band Sparks (Ron and Russel Mael), recently featured in Edgar Wright's documentary, The Sparks Brothers, has crafted a bizarre, surreal, and all-too-real film that explores the consequences of fame, child exploitation, male stupidity, and marriage. It's a smart rarity, where the characters mostly communicate in song and nothing is safe, not even love.

Henry (Adam Driver), a successful comedian, loves opera singer, Ann (Marion Cotillard, but fame for both is a deal breaker. You've heard it all before (A Star is Born anyone?), and to some extent the disintegration of their marriage is close to a cliché, but their singing and the lack of haranguing or bitter tirades almost has you thinking they can make it. To those adoring fans on the outside, their union is perfect.

With the entrance of their baby girl, Annette, and Ann's exit, Henry is left to his own devices relying on others to care for her but becoming obsessive about Annette's gifted voice. It doesn't take him long to exploit her talent around the world and for the fates to catch up with him.

Driver is particularly effective as a towering talent (his comedy act is unusually odd and bright), brooding and elusive. Although Cotillard could always carry a picture (La Vie En Rose), this one belongs to Driver, whose character is as charged as his performance.

Special credit must be given to the Sparks bros, who wrote the story and the music, evocative of Brian De Palma's Phantom of Paradise and any Sondheim, and to French director Leos Carax, whose off-center vision helps Annette be a wildly different take on the ravages of fame and the hubris of men.

Slow and eccentric for some, just quirky and insightful for others, this romance is artistically enough for anyone wanting a worthy drama that happens to be a musical.

Boring to the extreme

[guytowere · 1/10 · 17 August 2021]

I like art movies, and I see at least 2 movies a day. I never left a movie theater, before a movie ends. After an hour and a ½ , i did, for the first time in my life. The songs were so repetitive, with the same sentences repeated 10 times, in almost each song. The movie was long. The comedy elements were not funny at all, I was sitting and watching, saying to myself, how is this possible, to be so bad, so boring, so long, so detached from any emotion, so ui-involved? Yes, some scenes had visual color and beauty and some imagination built into the decor, but is this enough to keep me on my seat? There was fakeness in the stories, i was just so disappointed. I wasn't the only one leaving the theater too. Other women were, before me. I did not ask for a refund, I tried to be generous to all the people who put that movie together. But they owe me some popcorn..

Strange and Entrancing. Loved It!

[sweidman-28016 · 8/10 · 14 August 2021]

"So may we start?"

Annette follows Henry, a stand-up comedian with a fierce humor, and Ann, an internationally renowned opera singer. Together, under the spotlight, they form a happy and glamorous couple. The birth of their first child, Annette, a mysterious girl with an exceptional destiny, turns their lives upside down in this rock opera. Annette is a special kind of experience. It won't be for everyone as it takes a certain type of watcher to appreciate. The same can be said about the talent behind the screen. Leos Carax directs with his strange and unique style he displayed with his renowned feature Holy Motors. Holy Motors is on some whole other level that also takes a certain watcher to appreciate. Annette isn't anymore accessible as that, the only difference is the bigger stars on screen. But Carax does wonders with this film. It's dripping with style and substance it's hard to ignore. He brings so much life into every scene, because if you can get into the story, it's so much fun. Another thing to note is this was written by Ron and Russell Mael (aka Sparks). Fortunately, I saw Edgar Wright's documentary The Sparks Brothers only at the beginning of summer, so I could understand their style, which pairs nicely with Carax's. The story is over-the-top and self-aware which adds to the fun of it. But at its center, there's an emotional core. By the final act, and final song, it's like you're holding your breath to take it all in (which we're told to do by the narrator at the very beginning).

When it comes to the performances, they all stand out. We have three main actors: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. Adam Driver is incapable of giving a performance less than good. This may just be his best yet. He has the job of entertaining us with his comedy and give a frightening performance as we delve deeper into Henry. Marion Cotillard's may only be supporting, but her presence remains even when off screen. She has a light that shines whenever on screen. One of the songs is her telling her life story, and my personal favorite. And Simon Helberg was an amazing surprise. I haven't seen him in much of anything, but he blew me away. Lastly, Devyn McDowell has one scene and one song that's so powerful. For how young she is (maybe 8 years old at most), that one scene is just incredible and almost puts Adam Driver in the corner. They really did wonders with casting.

The budget wasn't too big, but for the production value, it looks pretty good. There's a few different sets that all look good. The standout for me was a scene that takes place on a boat. The costumes are good. One in particular that Marion Cotillard paired with her makeup looks really cool. The camera work is very showy in the best ways. With the well thought out lighting, it looks beautiful all the time. Annette is just one of the coolest movie experiences of the year so far. It's strange and sometimes feels awkward because of it, but I really liked it. Though all of it is weird, if you can get past one aspect of it, you should be good. I can't wait to see it again next week, though nothing will too that theater experience.

We bore each other so much

[duag · 5/10 · 26 July 2021]

Brankocerny's 6/10 review said it better from a cinephile point of view. From the point of view of a less educated film audience member, I can just say it was a boring opera about problems of boringly predictable famous people. Very repetitive. The start with the director was great, the visuals were very nice for the first few minutes. Then it just becomes annoying.

For most of the film I though there was a critique there on the use of child-actors. In the end it turns out it was just a visuals choice. I can't decide whether the "rich people problems" was a jab at the peers or just self-regard.

Edit: ah, yes, the acting was fine, the songs repetitive. All in all, more niche than I expected, I guess.

Pure Art. Not for everyone, but still a 10

[poolemarie · 10/10 · 20 August 2021]

The opening scene is a grabber. Agreed. I watched it several times. The rest of it is beautiful, hard, physical, and a feat of pure talent and genius on the part of the entire cast, crew and chorus. The physicality alone is stunning. I haven't dropped my jaw this much watching a movie ever, and only once watching a Cirque du Soleil show. The writing and content is hard, its dark and the music hits me in a way that my 21st century desensitized brain isn't used to, so I felt it. Again, pure art. Worth your time.

Henry and Ann's Marionette...

[Xstal · 4/10 · 29 November 2021]

... a kind of Pinocchio's cousin that they did beget. For it wasn't too long after they had just matched, that the puppet appeared with the strings all attached. Must have been quite a birth, full of splinters and knots, Rose would be a good name too, could have made her own cot.

Imaginative fayre but ever so slightly dull and not everyone's cup of tea and the songs are awful, which for a musical it's quite important that they're not.

My rating is 'Being John Malkovich' out of 10.

[luckyallstar · 2 December 2021]

I am confused on how I feel about this movie. At times I hated it. At others I was simply fascinated by it. And most interesting to see were the reactions. I've never seen so many people leave the cinema. And at the same time so many of those who did make it to the end be completely flabbergasted once the credits roll. The audience was confused and seemingly expected to see more. Like some Marvel after credits scene explaining or adding something.

The things I hated: In short, at times the movie does seem like a pretentious pseudo-intellectual fart-sniffing contemporary theatre/performance art. The songs.

The things I liked: many things are satirical. And most importantly, the twist at the end grounds the sillyness back to reality and puts it into a new perspective. But also, Adam Driver. The songs.

What an interesting experience overall.

Too pretentious

[jjxdyprk · 6/10 · 6 September 2021]

This is probably one of these cases where less could be more. Less singing, less budget, shorter length and this could have been a much more interesting movie. Probably too jumbled up and pretentious for my taste but some good ideas and good acting that do not work together as a pleasant whole.

Watch in a dark quiet room with no distractions

[mattiemurl · 9/10 · 20 August 2021]

It's amazing. The music, the rhythm, the pace, and all of the little extra sounds are hypnotic. The cast is incredible. Simon Helberg and Devyn McDowell are mesmerizing.

Do not watch in a room with distractions. You need to be immersed in only the film, let take you away and massage your brain.

Strange, beautiful and confusing

[valemas · 7/10 · 7 July 2021]

This movie has an experimental structure, and though some of its punches may not land, it is interesting enough to keep you captivated. The acting is good, the visuals pretty and the acting competent.

*yawn*

[wumbi · 4/10 · 10 September 2021]

It bores me to death, about halfway through I started skipping through the movie. If you ask me what is the movie about, I have no clue, I was hoping to get something from it but it was just pointless. The comedy in this movie is not funny at all, the songs are repetitive and follows the same pattern, It's very hard to listen to let alone enjoy. While I understand there are some artistic values to the movie but it's still not enough to make it a good movie. My advice if you want to watch this movie, if you're not impressed with the opening scene just turn it off because it gets no better than that.

I cared about a flying, singing marionette baby...

[tccandler · 9/10 · 21 August 2021]

Leos Carax directs Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in this cinematic opera that explores the nature of family, fame, jealousy, exploitation, obsession and madness. To describe the plot would be madness itself. This is best described as an experience that you will either adore or despise... and possibly both in equal measure. There were times during the film that had me doubting... but somehow, it weaved its magic and had me truly caring about all of the insanity.

A trite, nothing of a film

[latinfineart · 3/10 · 8 September 2021]

This is a truly horrendous film, it somehow thinks that it's going to be similar to La La Land, but without any of the charm, without any of the pacing, without any of the magic, without the great direction.

This is just a simplistic TV version of a Broadway play and a bad musical at that. I'm so glad I didn't have to pay to see this film, it was painful to watch.