The Vessel

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The Vessel

PG-13

Released Sep 16, 2016

1h 26m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

67%

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18 Reviews

43%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

A tidal wave destroys a small-town elementary school and washes 46 children out to sea. Over the next 10 years, music, dancing, fireworks and childbirth all vanish from the village, which is locked in perpetual mourning. One night, a young man named Leo slips off the pier and drowns but mysteriously revives three hours later. The townspeople wonder if this is a sign from God when Leo feels compelled to build a mysterious structure out of the school's remains.

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Matthew Lickona

San Diego Reader

Whatever his influences, Quintana has made his own, fine thing: a quietly powerful depiction of the what is required to rekindle hope in the hopeless.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 21, 2016

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Gentle, poetic, touching.

Rated: B+

Sep 15, 2016

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Andy Webster

New York Times

A modest, but not maudlin, parable of hope about mustering the strength to vigorously plunge again into life's uncertainties after a devastating loss.

Sep 15, 2016

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Nathanael Hood

Audiences Everywhere

Julio Quintana's The Vessel is a gorgeous, lyrical film about faith that's more interested in questions than in answers.

Rated: B

Dec 27, 2018

Full Review

Jordi Costa

El Pais (Spain)

Julio Quintana turns his camera into an omniscient eye, while raising exciting questions about the distance between tragedy and miracle. [Full review in Spanish]

Dec 19, 2016

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Carlos Marañón

Cinemanía (Spain)

A clear and obvious example of the difficulty of conveying messages of spiritual transcendence through cinema. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 2/5

Nov 7, 2016

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Stephen C

The entire cast failed in just 1 hour and 26 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/28/25

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Audience Member

Beautiful, contemplative, redemptive.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/26/19

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Audience Member

The Vessel est un film porto-ricain assez étrange en raison de son approche mais malgré tout, le message voulu passe bien et la réalisation est réussie mais le côté contemplatif du film ne plaira pas à tout le monde.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I started to watch out of curiosity for a new movie from Martin Sheen and got hooked by the muted emotions depicted in the film, sadness, loss, resignation, love and catarsis. Beautiful and very delicate photography of the sea and the skies and perfect accompanying music. Parallelly, Martin Sheen does a good representation of a pastor who tries to influence, not sure if with much success, a small community to which he is a stranger.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Stephen S

Confusing as hell and not particularly interesting. This is really just an extremely pretentious film.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/11/17

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Audience Member

I didn't think it was so fantastic...

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Julio Quintana

Director

Martin Sheen

Father Douglas

Lucas Quintana

Leo

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Soraya

Hiram Delgado

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Synopsis

A tidal wave destroys a small-town elementary school and washes 46 children out to sea. Over the next 10 years, music, dancing, fireworks and childbirth all vanish from the village, which is locked in perpetual mourning. One night, a young man named Leo slips off the pier and drowns but mysteriously revives three hours later. The townspeople wonder if this is a sign from God when Leo feels compelled to build a mysterious structure out of the school's remains.

Director: Julio Quintana
Producer: Marla Quintana
Screenwriter: Julio Quintana
Distributor: Outsider Pictures
Production Co: New Territory Pictures, Rockafellow Films, P&R Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Some Partial Nudity/Sensuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 16, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 2, 2017
Runtime: 1h 26m

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