To the Wonder

Full disclosure – the bizarre and discombobulated editing style almost provoked rare motion sickness for me, making much of the film a difficult sit, given its focus on style rather than plotting or narrative, but even so, it’s not clear to me why Malick would be interested in telling the story so consistently in this harsh and off-putting way; possibly as a reflection of the turbulent nature of the interrelationships (especially between Affleck and Kurylenko & McAdams) but I think the point is made after the establishing shots! What is left feels like a more specific though simultaneously more vague dissection of a relationship in break-down, without the operatic scale that made THE TREE OF LIFE so memorable and compelling. Given what they have to work with, the performers embody their characters well (Affleck has a few chilling moments of all-out fury), with Bardem emerging as the true heart of the film, though the underutilisation of his character makes him feel like a bit of an add-on.