The Stoneraft

2002

1h 43m

Adventure

Fantasy

List

40%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

50%

Audience Score

50+ Ratings

A vast fissure opens up in Europe, setting Spain and Portugal adrift in the Atlantic. While most panic, five strangers and a dog explore this strange new world, acquiring bizarre powers along the way. Old pharmacist Pedro (Federico Luppi) can sense otherwise undetectable tremors, while schoolteacher Jose (Gabino Diego) attracts flocks of birds. As the rogue landmass threatens to collide with the Azores, the pilgrims try to unveil the mystical meaning of what may be a benevolent catastrophe.

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Richard James Havis

Hollywood Reporter

The bulk of the film is marred by a contrived effort to appear obscure, though a meditative finale ultimately provides some food for thought.

Mar 8, 2003

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

The film is a low-key disaster picture, made about characters who are inward, thoughtful, talkative.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 7, 2003

Full Review

Dragan Antulov

Draxblog Movie Reviews

drifts away from the audiences just as the peninsula drifts away from the continent

Rated: 3/10

Sep 24, 2005

Full Review

Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone

TheMovieChicks.com

The film is nostalgic, visually stunning, and a lot of fun. If you had to be stranded on a floating island, these would be great people to hang out with.

Rated: 4/5

May 27, 2003

Full Review

Donald J. Levit

ReelTalk Movie Reviews

The quest-journey is weighted with self-conscious but empty lines, and so deliberate is the pacing that the actors seem to have drifted off as well.

Mar 8, 2003

Full Review

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Audience Member

Ebert rightly calls this a low key disaster film, but it is also fantasy, magical realism, a political fable, and an allegory about Spain and Portugal in the context of an impending EU expansion in 2004, though the book on which it was based was written around the time that Spain and Portugal joined the EU in 1986. The Iberian peninsula breaks away from Europe, and heads due West, towards North America (via the Azores). The movie, like the book written by Nobel Prize winning Jose Saramago, is open to a number of interpretations, but focuses on the response of individuals to these tremendous political changes. Each of the five Iberians examines a curious talent or ability about themselves that they do not fully understand. One of the strongest points of the movie is the setup, which makes the break of Iberia from the continent believable. Then as our travelers explore their talents and travel Iberia in search of a location to wait out the impending crash with the Azores, we are free to explore with them as they struggle to understand themselves and each other. Half of the fun of this movie, if you haven't read the book, is waiting for the next unexpected aspect of a talent or ability to unfold. If you have read the book, you might want to make sure you have a few years under your belt before turning down the house lights, and settling in with popcorn.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ebert rightly calls this a low key disaster film, but it is also fantasy, magical realism, a political fable, and an allegory about Spain and Portugal in the context of an impending EU expansion in 2004, though the book on which it was based was written around the time that Spain and Portugal joined the EU in 1986. The Iberian peninsula breaks away from Europe, and heads due West, towards North America (via the Azores). The movie, like the book written by Nobel Prize winning Jose Saramago, is open to a number of interpretations, but focuses on the response of individuals to these tremendous political changes. Each of the five Iberians examines a curious talent or ability about themselves that they do not fully understand. One of the strongest points of the movie is the setup, which makes the break of Iberia from the continent believable. Then as our travelers explore their talents and travel Iberia in search of a location to wait out the impending crash with the Azores, we are free to explore with them as they struggle to understand themselves and each other. Half of the fun of this movie, if you haven't read the book, is waiting for the next unexpected aspect of a talent or ability to unfold. If you have read the book, you might want to make sure you have a few years under your belt before turning down the house lights, and settling in with popcorn.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

(***): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Interesting end of the world film. I enjoyed its pace and really got involved with the characters.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

pretty interesting and engaging, cool idea and effects....would most likely have been better had i known much about european geography....

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

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George Sluizer

Director

Federico Luppi

Pedro

Icíar Bollaín

Maria

Gabino Diego

Jose

Ana Padrão

Joana

Diogo Infante

Joaquim

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Synopsis

A vast fissure opens up in Europe, setting Spain and Portugal adrift in the Atlantic. While most panic, five strangers and a dog explore this strange new world, acquiring bizarre powers along the way. Old pharmacist Pedro (Federico Luppi) can sense otherwise undetectable tremors, while schoolteacher Jose (Gabino Diego) attracts flocks of birds. As the rogue landmass threatens to collide with the Azores, the pilgrims try to unveil the mystical meaning of what may be a benevolent catastrophe.

Director: George Sluizer
Producer: Anne Lordon
Screenwriter: George Sluizer, Yvette Biro
Production Co: Sogecine
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language: Spanish (Spain)
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround