Bonnie Kidd

A love story with a conventional outcome but a wonderful script, literate and witty. The leads all perform exceptionally well, especially the alluring Berenice Marlohe, who conveys volumes without a word. The love story ends with a breakup because Arielle won't leave her family for Brian, but the two lovers continue to love each other from afar despite Brian's eventual happy marriage. They don't resume their affair, but they cherish their memories of their year together. The end is telegraphed from the beginning, and there are few surprises,but the film is engaging.

A phenomenal film, a disturbing investigation of what makes us human, and whether we differ from animals in an irreversible way. Visually unlike any other film to date, striking and extremely dark, an alien seeming world marked by jagged volcanic outcroppings and bleached bones of giant sea creatures. You may as well be on Mars. The film is beautifully acted, with a spare, lucid script and a highly active camera that substitutes for spoken language to convey ineffable meaning, image by image. This film will haunt me for the rest of my life What a brilliant technical achievement it is. What a pity it was not the box office success it should have been