poorly executed and highly overrated

Rating: 3/10 (16 April 2019)

A story, no doubt, with a good premise - after all, who nowadays won't enjoy a slice of fantasy with a shade of xenophilia? I certainly can say that I do enjoy such things. Well, what a disappointment. Premise may be satisfying, but everything else is terrific. Atmosphere that starts to build up from the beginning of the film is constantly shattered by cheap symbolism and something that I could call "not going with it all the way through". Obviously, the movie is one that holds a purpose of disturbing feelings with good storytelling and aesthetics - unfortunately, it lacks in both of these areas. Components lead nowhere and keep viewer wondering why they were placed here in the first place. Scenes are either not disturbing enough or not beautiful enough. The fact that these little things ruin something potentially good and precious, well, is very sad. I don't know why this film is so widely appreciated - there's nothing special, nothing disturbing and nothing magnificent about it.
If you want to watch something with similar dystopian-ish atmosphere and aesthetics, better spend your time on La Antenna (2007). It doesn't contain any monster-loving, but it is a good example of dystopian fairy tale like story.