Three reasons you may not like this film

Rating: 9/10 (25 March 2018)

I found this film tense, thrilling, beautiful, imaginative and intriguing. I'm bemused by the number of highly negative reviews here, but have three possible explanations. The first is that the main protagonists are all women, which seems to bother some viewers. I found this aspect a breath of fresh air, with interesting and strong female characters that develop and are revealed over the course of the film. The second that may not appeal to lovers of standard Hollywood fare is that the pace is somewhat slow and thoughtful. However, this adds a wonderful air of mystery and suspense. I'm pleased to see another reviewer below also saw a comparison with Tarkovsky's Stalker in this sense (though of course nothing can compare to his cinematography). Here, the tranquil or tense atmosphere is punctuated by some scenes of exceptional horror that really shake you. And the third is that there is no nicely packaged "answer". There are several possible explanations for the "shimmer" as we go on, but I don't think there is any clear right one. The characters actually discuss this ambiguity themselves, so I do believe it is completely intentional. Finally I would add that the music is amazing - some amazing atmospheric industrial sounding tracks by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury. One of the rare films I would watch again.