Ryan R
Slow building but well worth the watch.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/05/24
Full Review
Just S
Can't imagine any other actor pulling a role this big. Meaningful and thoughtful, the movie runs through it all. Especially liked the slowness of the movie, it drags you into his life, how slow and lonely it is. It makes you feel it all, and with such great ambient music, you do. Also liked the idea with the ending of the movie, how every viewer will have his/hers own ending.
Truly a masterpiece.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/08/24
Full Review
Diego H
Aburrida perdi 1:40:00 horas viéndola
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/24
Full Review
Mildred M
I enjoyed the dynamic experience of the characters. Cranston is well worth the watch! I've seen this four times already. Only wish there was insight to how things went beyond the ending.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
08/12/23
Full Review
Anna R
Wakefield
An abusive man manipulates two people and destiny to get a woman to fall in love with him. They are married and expecting before he realizes that happiness comes from within, and that he is an empty shell of a man. One day, he justifies a non-traditional abandonment of his wife and two daughters, claiming to be abandoning himself (and life), instead. It has a snowball effect, going from hours to days then weeks, with no reasonable way for him to return home.
He watches the suffering of his wife, from a separate building on their property, every day, entertained. He gets a disturbing satisfaction from this, while rationalizing the cruelty of the circumstances.
By disappearing without a trace, she is not able to move on, and left without closure. It wouldn't be socially acceptable for her to move on, especially with a new partner. This is his way of leaving her while keeping her under his control. When she turns down the sleazy advances of another man, and several other occasions, he takes pride in how his actions have created (and kept) a sense of ownership over her.
He watches her sadness, with pleasure and criticism, because it's not enough unless she entirely falls apart as a mother, distraught over the fate of her husband. He is endlessly critical of how she copes, delighting in times when she has to struggle to do the job of both parents, feeling somehow vindicated by watching her take out the trash. He watches her struggle financially, to feed their daughters, while criticizing her decision to give them a sense of normalcy, by still taking them on an annual vacation. He scoffs that she might be going into their savings, later learning it is being financed by his (despised) mother in law.
In perfect character, the moment he gets closest to choosing to return home, is as selfish as the petty as the reason he went missing to begin with. He doesn't want to be exposed for the deception he began their relationship with, or risk her actually finding happiness, apart from the ungrateful man she was conned into being with. This isn't a spoiler, either. You'll see it coming a mile away. The only thing missing from the ending is a restraining order, although it leaves enough of an open door for you to imagine a happily ever after for her.
Everything else in the story, seems like the babbling justifications of an abuser about the abuse he is perpetrating, as if you're in his head with him. Not deep or thought-provoking. Yes, we've all had the urge to just "run away from life", but don't, because of those it would hurt.
I agree with many others, that the same could've been accomplished in an hour, or as a short film. It gets to the point that you're just waiting for him to return home, where the film soon ends, unremarkably. Minus a star for that. Minus another star for the fact that I don't think the story was intended to portray an abusive relationship, when it is clearly one.
Apparently, the viewer was supposed to find connection with, or sympathy for, this man. That part is probably more disturbing than the film, itself.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
07/26/23
Full Review
Danny L
Prompted to review and comment because this movie is definitely underrated. Grow some tantalizing patience, people — this is one of those contemplative slow burns that makes a simple sick day with chicken noodle soup quietly revelatory.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/16/23
Full Review
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