A saturday afternoon movie trip… me… whats happened to me…? Well it was the only time i could see this film. Its not at the bargain days at my local cinemas & its only on at my multiplex at 4:10 or 8:40 & its a 3h movie which is really meant to make you think so the 4:10 saturday afternoon showing time it is then. Lets see how far Ari pushes us this time.

Turns out there was about another 20 people with a similar opinion as me. Mainly millennial friends & mostly male. So i was the right age just not the right gender for the target audience & they were all very obnoxious the 3 groups i eves dropped on. I mean look im after a boyfriend if one of them sounded the corrected type of knowledgeable about films id have listened to them more but no. They didnt understand midsummer at all.

I cant remember what the trailers were for, there was horror in there, & Oppenheimer, but other than that i cant remember sorry guys. Must have been too busy writing & not watching them.

& then the film started… What the hell did i just watch…

Now i am all up for films that arent what they seem. I like self important films, there is a time & a place for them when they get them right, but this. Oh my god. It been a while since i have now seen this movie & im still not sure exactly what i did see.

Was this film a cry for help?
Was it how to cope with your biggest fears?
Was it to teach you theres a bigger world out there?
Was it just over the top bollocks?
Was it a mental help conversation that people need to have?
Was it all about anxiety?
Was it a dream?
Was it weird?
Was it real?
I asked myself all of these questions while watching the film & afterward, & i still have no answer to any of them at all. I mean i like some self indulgent obnoxious films, but this for 3hours… yea a step to far. It was too much for my brain to cope with. I was looking at everything so deeply that the second i thought i understood something it was like no not like that, its not happening now go off down this tangent instead.

Theres a bit half way through act 2, where he watches a theatre performance, & it was stunning. It was moving & though provoking & really clever & it takes up about 20mins of the film i think. Its wonderful. & if you go & watch this film, you watch it for this one scene because its tremendous. I was loving it & trying to work out if it was going to affect him going forward (especially as we had already seen a flash-forward of his future on cctv) but i was so mesmerised that once we were brought back to the reality of the film, i felt very disappointed especially as we still had about an hour of the film to go.

Are you even a millennial if you dont smile & go ooooh yay when Nathen Lane appears in any sort of media? Because me & at least 4 other people all went ahhhh when he appeared. I mean he was weird (like everything else in this film) but still. But yea its comfort whenever he turns up. You feel like you are i safe hands.

Restarting the playlist song while you are having sex, because something interrupted the mood… i laughed a lot at that. ITs so right though. Just being like nope im ready now lets start again. That whole sex scene was crazy but i loved it & laughed so much. & then went the hell, because guess what the film went weird again.

Phoenix is always good, i mean his methods might not be my cuppa tea & i might not enjoy all his work, he is very devise, but he acts his arse off in this. He is extremely vulnerable & its nice to see a man go through that kind of stuff especially on their own for the most part. It proves a point.

I was left with far too many questions especially with the end of act 3. That was just like no no no. Why did we suddenly have to have that. We didnt need the sudden guilt trip at the end. Thats where i got lost. I thought a good 10mins before the 3h film ended that we were at a good point to end it but no.

I thought your therapists were meant to be on your side, not snitch on you.

I know ive seen a lot of dystopian or apocalyptic films recently, but this was the weirdest one.

I dont think it treated PTSD well, in any of the circumstances that it showed you.

Im just so angry that every time i thought i figured it out it just went no & that pissed me off quite a bit. If i leave the cinema angry, its usually due to a character not getting its just desert or the film not being as advertised, but this no this mad me eave angry not knowing what i had actually seen.

I love getting lost in a film, thats my gig, its what i do, but when even i come out confused, yea thats not a good sign.

3 hours of over the top self indulgence which wanted to be pompous, but i just didnt get it. I mean im sure theres a small portion of people who will get this & go oh wow that means this & that, but i think it went to far in what it did & didnt make it enjoyable. & could i work out the hidden overall meaning other than dont piss your parents off & asking for help might not always be the best option (which by the way asking for help is always the best option) it just confused me.

This is for those who want to watch all of Aris films & want to get really lost. Im glad ive seen it but it was all a bit to much for a 3 hour continuous watch. I cant recommend it even though there are some amazing bits. Its just too far up its own arse.