l_rawjalaurence Judging by the comments of previous reviewers, Saverio Costanzo's film has divided reviewers and audiences alike. Perhaps this is due to its combination of tones: the apparently artless beginning that does not prepare us in any way for the film's major issue, that of how to reconcile one's inner beliefs with the realities of bringing up a child. Or perhaps it's because of the desperate measures adopted by the child's grandmother (Roberta Maxwell) in an attempt to ensure the child's future welfare. Some have dismissed them as melodramatic: one wonders what they might do in a similar situation.The main point at issue here is one of obsession: Mina (Alba Rohrwacher) believes that her newly-born son is somehow special and needs to be "protected" from supposedly corrupting influences such as doctors, red meat or sunlight. The fact that this results in the child's attenuated growth is a side-effect. Her husband Jude (Adam Driver) tries to make her see reason (as he perceives it), but fails to do so. Director Costanzo invites us to reflect on the morality of both protagonists - is one "right" and the other "wrong"? Or are there other issues involved here?What gives the film its particular resonance is its style. Very little music appears on the soundtrack - except at the end; hence we as viewers are not guided into making a specific response to what we see. Fabio Cianchetti's camera is fond of consciously out-of-focus shots, transforming the characters into other-worldly beings rather than New Yorkers. This strategy reminds us quite powerfully of how anyone departing from ideological or social behavioral norms is invariably dismissed as "deviant." Sometimes this visual technique seems excessive - as for example, when Mina is shot in such a way as to emphasize a large head and skinny body - but we can understand the purpose behind it.In this kind of film, it is difficult to maintain some sense of dramatic balance. All credit, then, to the three protagonists, whose performances seem inspired by the situations contained in the screenplay, and refrain from dramatic or gestural excesses.

Alex Ellis I loved it. Really did. At The next to the last scene, I was shocked and surprised and when it was over we turned to each other and said "that was good" I noticed the not washing the hands in the first scene too. I felt the claustrophobia of the apartment. I felt the desperation of the husband. I felt the psychosis of the mother. I felt sympathy for the grandmother. I was immersed in the film and enjoyed it. The run time is just over an hour. Perfect length. Satisfying ending. Strange stairs into the apartment. cool rooftop garden. I couldn't live in the city like that. I need room. I enjoyed the movie. Took place in New York City.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Everyone loves a good "How did you two meet?" story, and the best of these stories somehow makes the couple more interesting. It's pretty tough to beat the meet-cute of Jude and Mina in the opening scene from writer/director Saverio Costanzo … even if it does take place in the tight and pungent confines of restaurant restroom. It's a terrific start to a movie that has no real shot at getting better from there.Jude (an excellent Adam Driver) and Mina (Alba Rohrwacher) fall directly into bed and in love … directly from the outhouse. We catch glimpses of their romance, and quickly accept them as a well-suited, warm-yet-quirky couple. An unexpected pregnancy kicks off a gradual and troubling change in Mina. This change is turbo-charged once the baby arrives. Mina registers in the extreme of the mother's instincts vs. modern medicine debate. She is all about purity for her baby – food and environment. There is nothing wrong with that, right? Well, when the baby doesn't grow and develop, it's understandable that the dad might freak a bit, no matter how understanding or trusting he claims to be.The story becomes the unraveling of a once-promising relationship, as well as the unraveling of a once seemingly normal woman. With the tone of an early Roman Polanski movie, Costanzo's film (from Marco Franzoso's novel) has very real horror overtones, while playing out like a real life parenting drama … or a psychological thriller. The real turning point for Mina's character seems to occur after a Psychic Reading where the Clairvoyant labels her baby as an Indigo child. Mina believes this and her psychotic actions create the intense worries of Jude and his mother (Roberta Maxwell).With the current uproar of vaccinations, there is certainly a modern day link to the story line of mother's instincts vs. doctor's orders. But with a lawyer recommending kidnapping, and a triumvirate of desperate characters: father, mother, grandmother, there doesn't seem to be much factual data here … rather it's an effective scare tactic.

jamesstewart2048 ------------SPOILERS--------------------------- First scene: She enters in a bathroom in a movie theater set according to the sound the door does when she slams it. NO. It's not done on purpose!! It's called horrible set designer, horrible sound team!! They are stock in a toilets where he just had a poo that smells bad. That's how they meet. That's how we are supposed to establish a connection with the characters. OK. But all we can think of during this sequence shot is: WHEN THE HELL WILL YOU WASH YOUR HANDS, PIG??? But the director liked this take and said "it's OK, who cares? it'a detail!!" So they keep this take in spite the importance of this scene. And that's how everybody on the set must have act to abort this film "it's OK, who cares? it's just a detail!!" well ...i, I care!! because unfortunately I PAID TO SEE THIS Catastrophe!!!!! -The Director: Which one? The one who wasn't there or the one who was asleep or the one who thought that's enough to stick your camera to an actor's face to be called a director???? THERE IS SIMPLY NO STAGING IN THIS FILM. None. Nothing. Void. Absolute Nothingness. It is static, lazy, apathetic, i love Kiarostami and Cassavetes but here i was hoping that some TRANSFORMERS break a wall, that some AVENGER rip off half of the earth so that something happens, because a moving disaster is always better than a static disaster!!! It has the drama material for a short film and it makes a lame long long long long long 1h45 film. If you want to watch tiny innovations that makes a one room film a great film, watch UN AIR DE FAMILLE by Cédric Klapisch. -The actress is good but what can she do alone with Mister Apathy being the wheel? -The music: Flashdance!! out of the blue? why? for what? because "who cares?!!" remember? It was the crew leitmotiv while shooting. She is a vegan. He gives their baby meat behind her back. She enters, sees that and ... and some Hitchcock string waving from the sixties pop up in the middle of the silence!! THANKS DUDE TO TELL ME WHERE AND WHEN TO WORRY!! The fact is, the staging didn't made a suspense about her discovering that, so the strings are like a cannonball to say hello. A Pathetic attempt by the music to save the absence of staging. The sound: dreadful during the first scene then OK. -Finally: The message of the film: slightly dangerous: man has no balls anymore, they are sissy unable to protect there kids, it was better before???? And the final shot: a sunset after one a of the character's death, why? because the director hasn't been lazy enough? Because he has to deliver the lamest cliché ever for no meaning?? Or just to say one more time "who cares about this film? about this story? hey!! sunset!! isn't it nice?" ... ???? WTF?????????????????