Uniquely Gorgeous Depiction of Grief & Loss

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2018)

First, let me say: What a beautiful film! There are so many tiny (no pun intended) camera tricks and little details all over the place, sometimes your subconscious thinks it sees something that isn't actually there; making you question your own eyes.
The incorporation of miniatures, as a type of framing device, allows the viewer to see multiple scenes, not only in a different (and very unique) way, but from the perspective of Toni Colette's character, Annie.
The masterful use of dolly-shots, by panning across rooms in a very wide-and-straight manner, give us the feeling of looking at all of these real-life rooms in the home as if they were tiny, inside a dollhouse.
The most insignificant details (such as thicker-than-normal trims on doors, and taller-than-normal wainscoting on walls) also give us the impression that the home and people we are watching are somehow smaller than us.
The acting is terrific: There are some very raw, brutal emotions that our characters go through, and at one point I even felt a burning heat in my chest as I watched another character endure a crushing weight of grief.
That's why I love movies: I want to feel something.
Certainly, there are moments when it all becomes rather draining for us, and that will turn people away. However, this is a movie that is very much intending for you to feel uncomfortable! Empathy, quite frankly, is a skill that we learn in life, and, like anything else, empathy requires practice.
There are some shots that, I felt, lingered a bit too long, almost as if the director was concerned that the audience wouldn't notice what was on-screen. I thought those should have been trimmed up. Some scenes (though very few) can drag a little too long.
Towards the end, there were some over-the-top bits of more, I suppose, "conventional" horror tropes and behaviours, which were a bit silly. There are moments where I laughed out loud (such as when a character throws himself through a window, à la the Friday the 13th films). So, yes, some moments are silly.
My advice? Laugh at the silly bits!
Those will be your ONLY chances to relax and breathe in this film!