So, considering the raving reviews this film got, I was actually going into it with quite some expectations, yet ultimately I found myself thorn with what I felt, was, just a decent film that seemed to struggle to assess what it wants, or maybe I struggle to see what it tries to do.
It is a film about finding yourself (a concept I personally find a little cliché if not done properly) during your 30s, and looking for a greater reason in life, yet the film doesn't really try to show you a way into that. It is raw in the sense that the lives that it portrays, are those of people that talk the big talk but barely do any work to actually achieve what they wish for. The protagonist is pretty much this. Julie, at times, feels like a closeted narcissist, incapable of accepting guilt or accepting that she's not as special as she thinks she is. She feels lost and wanders around life trying to find meaning.
Yet, that's exactly what I didn't quite like about this film. Julie keeps doing just that, wandering and wandering without any clear goals, she doesn't know what she wants and she doesn't even seem to try to take the moment to actually reflect upon it other than by impulsive decisions.
But I guess that's the whole point, is it no? This movie is not about the success of the character, or about actually finding a meaning or reason for you life, and while she is definitely not the worst person in the world, she's a lost woman in her 30s that seeks validation where there is none, betrays her closed ones, and herself in the process, to get all the way back to the starting point, all for nothing.
The first half of the film I found to be very boring and insipid. It's hard to pay attention to a protagonist that has no personality at all, and while the secondary characters are more entertaining, they are not the focus of the film.
The last half improves a lot more. While the crazy shots and editing adds some flavor to it, I couldn't but feel that the director wanted to add them just as a way to enhance the film visually, rather than be an actual essential part of it; it feels superfluous. On the other hand, the conversations and dialogue gets more interesting, and the stakes are higher, emotions feel stronger, and we start seeing the actions of Julie take shape into consequences.
I guess it's a decent movie. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but if you are interested in a movie that portrays the angst of a 30s woman lost in life, without ever actually achieving what she wants, then you can have this one.
It is a film about finding yourself (a concept I personally find a little cliché if not done properly) during your 30s, and looking for a greater reason in life, yet the film doesn't really try to show you a way into that. It is raw in the sense that the lives that it portrays, are those of people that talk the big talk but barely do any work to actually achieve what they wish for. The protagonist is pretty much this. Julie, at times, feels like a closeted narcissist, incapable of accepting guilt or accepting that she's not as special as she thinks she is. She feels lost and wanders around life trying to find meaning.
Yet, that's exactly what I didn't quite like about this film. Julie keeps doing just that, wandering and wandering without any clear goals, she doesn't know what she wants and she doesn't even seem to try to take the moment to actually reflect upon it other than by impulsive decisions.
But I guess that's the whole point, is it no? This movie is not about the success of the character, or about actually finding a meaning or reason for you life, and while she is definitely not the worst person in the world, she's a lost woman in her 30s that seeks validation where there is none, betrays her closed ones, and herself in the process, to get all the way back to the starting point, all for nothing.
The first half of the film I found to be very boring and insipid. It's hard to pay attention to a protagonist that has no personality at all, and while the secondary characters are more entertaining, they are not the focus of the film.
The last half improves a lot more. While the crazy shots and editing adds some flavor to it, I couldn't but feel that the director wanted to add them just as a way to enhance the film visually, rather than be an actual essential part of it; it feels superfluous. On the other hand, the conversations and dialogue gets more interesting, and the stakes are higher, emotions feel stronger, and we start seeing the actions of Julie take shape into consequences.
I guess it's a decent movie. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but if you are interested in a movie that portrays the angst of a 30s woman lost in life, without ever actually achieving what she wants, then you can have this one.
