Superb character study of a struggling mother. Colman and Buckley are terrific. The ending, is hugely open to interpretation but I have my own thoughts on it which I won't spoil.
Hard to believe his is Gyllenhall's directorial debut and not the output of a Director with tens of films under his or her belt.
8/10
i'm shocked that I haven't seen Buckley's name on any of the short lists for oscar nominations. she certainly gave a better performance than Kirsten Dunst (only other Golden Globe performance that I saw so far).
shareI'm not sure why you're shocked. The Oscars are a heap of steaming tu_rd that exist to mostly backslap their own and pour praise on Hollywood. The best performances of the year rarely get so much of a mention at the Oscars. I expect we'll get the same old people trotted out again (Di Caprio, Streep and whoever else pleases the masses) Jasna Djuricic's performance in 'Quo Vadis, Aida' is the best of the year but it won't even be in the frame. Nor will 'Titane' or 'Petit Maman' or 'Dear Comrades' and loads of others.
You'd be far better off paying zero attention to the oscars. Make your own lists up and pour praise on them. It's far healthier as a film fan.
agreed. i pay attention to the Oscars, but I always said if a person believes that Transformers was the best movie of they year, then it was to that person. But you figure that when you get a large group of people voting that the best would rise to the top. Just an FYI: Quo Vadis Aida was released in 2020. The movie was nominated for Best Foreign Film, but Jasna was not nominated for best actress. Another mistake that was made.
shareQuo Vadis Aida wasn't released theatrically until 2021. Film festivals are great but some are barely open to the public so can't really call it a full release. Just my opinion.
Mad to think of all the amazing French films released in the last year - and none of them are even going to be nominated for an oscar? Stick to what you enjoy and tell everyone how great it is!
If you don't mind messaging me, I would love to hear your interpretation.
shareSpoilers...
This movie started off interesting, but had so many problems it was ultimately a failure. I like Coleman, but I found her character, both middle-aged and young, to be unlikeable. The entire thing with the stolen doll was creepy and pointless. Multiple characters telling her how young she looked was unbelievable and ridiculous. The inclusion of a big-name actor like Ed Harris in a role that went nowhere was misleading. The implication that something terrible had happened to the oldest daughter, who turned out to be alive and well, made everything that had gone before meaningless. And more that I can't remember right now.
-You only like films where all the characters are likeable? That's a a bit ridiculous.
-The doll is one of many metaphors about her situation - whether to throw it away or give it back and be honest. She was honest in the end, which signified her being honest with herself and letting go of the guilt that had eaten her up for so many years.
-She was told that she looked young to ram home the point that she perhaps had children too early in her life.
-Why was Ed Harris character misleading? Why does it matter who played him? It's a pivotal character as it shows her inability to form relationships with men despite her perhaps wanting to. The character also knew about the doll in her apartment, so there is a subplot about whether he told the family or not.
-The implication that something terrible had happened is there to put us in the mind of Colman's character - in her head it is as tragic as a loss. She abandoned them. It is a seismic event that tore a family apart.
Great film.
In your OP, you used the phrase "hugely open to interpretation", yet you seem intolerant of my opinion because it doesn't align with yours.
I never said I only like films where everyone is likeable. That's your ridiculous inference.
The doll situation was bizarre and made her seem deeply mentally ill to the point it was out of character. If it was intended as a metaphor, it was clumsily overdone.
Nobody would tell her that she looked under forty, which at least one character did. It's preposterous and requires an unreasonable level of suspension of disbelief.
I have no problem with the character Harris played. But when film makers choose to use a star actor in a role, it sets up expectations. His presence from the beginning was obviously not just a cameo; it was strongly implied more than once that some sort of closer involvement between him and Coleman's character might be developing, a possibility greatly strengthened by having an actor like Harris in the role. In this movie, using Harris was misleading. His character went nowhere.
Nothing Coleman's character actually did was as tragic as the loss (death) of the daughter would have been. To make it seem like something that terrible had happened throughout the movie, then reveal at the end that no such disaster had taken place, was dishonest on the part of the film's makers. Not only was the daughter alive and well, but she and Coleman's character still had, at the least, a polite speaking relationship.
Okay film, but a letdown on several levels. Glad you thought it was great, though.
✅…..it took a minute or two, but once Buckley appears, I’m in.
shareIs a great film, but looking at the other threads on here, I'm starting to think most of the movie chat crowd is... not very film savvy.
shareThere are some very odd responses to it. One called it 'a boring art film' !
shareA huge chunk of moviechat consists of young guys who troll around until the next superhero movie is released.
shareHey I like a good superhero movie too (but they are not all good), but I also like a dramatic art film. I wish people could expand their tastes beyond processed foods form the convenience store.
shareWell, yes. I tend to believe that those who don't like all the same movies I like, or disagree with me about aspects of them, are certainly not very film savvy. Probably trolls who only like Transformer movies.
shareThe reveal is throughout the movie and not just at the end. It's interesting, but not something I would watch again.
shareIndependent Spirit Awards: Won best feature and screenplay, Gyllenhall won best director, Buckley nominated.
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