A Good 2/3 of a movie.

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2018)

A good 2/3 of a movie. Its a stunningly beautiful looking film. I think Alex Garland has a great eye. It did a good job of setting up the mystery. And I genuinely wasn't sure where this was going or what to expect next. The atmosphere worked, it definitely had this dream-like quality to it. However, I feel like the third act is where it starts to get messy and convoluted. There was a couple of times where the film reminded me of another recent sci-fi film Arrival, but unlike that film I didnt walk away from it with this feeling of profoundness. Also, it never made sense to me that they went into the Shimmer without any kind of hazmat suit on. I mean they make a big point in the movie that they have no idea what it is and how nobody ever seems to come back out, you think they would take some precaution. I get they don't want to film the majority of the movie of people in suits but they could easily shoot a scene where the test the air on the inside and deem its ok to take off the masks and suits. And when they collected samples, they never put on gloves. I know that may seem like a small gripe, but it just wasn't that believable. Natalie Portman is really great in this film. Tessa & Gina were good too but they also didnt have as much to do. I mean, this really is Natalie's movie. Jennifer Jason Leigh though just looked bored for 95% of her screentime. And I get her character is meant to be more aloof, it just...I don't know...didnt come off properly for me. I'm rating this movie a 7. If they had changed the third act up, I would have for sure rated this higher. Because besides a couple of small gripes I was really enjoying this movie and mystery and eerieness behind it. And I thought the story/plot was good up to that point. I wouldnt mind seeing this movie pop up around awards season for some tech noms as well cinematography. I don't know if it will. But I think its deserving of that. I also think Natalie Portman would be deserving of a Best Actress nom, but not only do I think thats very unlikely of happening, I also recognize there is a still a lot more performances to see and so that might change.