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Life in a Fishbowl

Play trailer Poster for Life in a Fishbowl 2014 2h 9m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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80% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Three people leading double lives make difficult changes to find redemption.

Critics Reviews

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Anton Bitel Little White Lies 03/04/2015
As these three lost souls cross paths in different configurations, we see a subtly drawn portrait of Iceland burdened by a troubled history of incestuous sagas and financial crises. Go to Full Review
C.J. Prince Way Too Indie 06/15/2019
6.8/10
Life in a Fishbowl will definitely resonate with audiences outside of Iceland, but its well-handled drama can only help it so much. Go to Full Review
Josh Slater-Williams The Skinny 02/25/2015
3/5
A film of dark material with flickers of soulful hope amid its doom and gloom... that help it transcend its more routine elements. Go to Full Review
Jennie Kermode Eye for Film 02/23/2015
4/5
An intelligent script and strong acting bring life and depth to the characters. Go to Full Review
Jamie S. Rich Oregonian 02/11/2015
C
It's slick, to be sure, but all the hand-wringing shakes out very little insight into the characters or their sadness, much less what lies beyond. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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07/15/2016 In short: Several parallel plot lines coming together but the mixture disappoints. Characters not interesting enough to warrant the two hours running time. Not boring, just useless and unrewarding Saw this at Noordelijk film festival 2015 in Leeuwarden (NL). Long winded way of storytelling, without enough substance and devoid of interesting protagonists, taking more than two hours running time. Starting as independent parallel plot lines, we see gradually more and more of the main character's lives intertwined, but it takes time to get hold of the big picture. Alas, it is all interesting enough to make an effort to piece it together. The superficial viewer should look past the embedded morale that men always get away with their wrongdoings and that women always suffer. There is one instance (only one!) where we see hard work and honesty rewarded (the fresh banker) while his colleague (always talking about team playing) changes his report (luckily, the boss found out). Nearly at the same time he threatens the school teacher not to reveal anything about their encounter in "Florida", he also tells his wife that nothing happened and that she has to trust him. So his morale is dubious at least, though it may be due to panic. The other instance of rewarding good behavior is when the writer/poet who accidentally winds up as a rich man, shares some of his wealth with the part time call girl, but we have to overlook that his way of babysitting is irresponsible because of his drinking habits. All in all, no saints and no angels in this movie, only real people with all kinds of faults combined with good features. Yet, none of these are unusual or worth devoting a movie about it, so I get stuck with a feeling of disappointment after sitting out more than two hours. It was not boring, just useless and unrewarding. Technically nothing wrong, well shot, and casting/acting was believable. Apparently I'm at fault, as nearly 1000 IMDB users awarded a 7.5 score on average. See more 06/25/2015 Brilliant film about relationships. See more 09/30/2014 Brilliant movie in every way! See more Read all reviews
Life in a Fishbowl

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Movie Info

Synopsis Three people leading double lives make difficult changes to find redemption.
Director
Baldvin Zophoníasson
Producer
Birna Paulina Einarsdottir, Julius Kemp, Ingvar Thordarson
Screenwriter
Birgir Örn Steinarsson, Baldvin Zophoníasson
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Icelandic
Runtime
2h 9m