Kirpianuscus
a photo album more than a film. because it reminds old themes, in right mix, well known characters, gestures and facts expected after the the first moments. the special children, the isolated space, the pressure of past, the father who does the right things in the wrong manner are pieces of a film who not surprise but it is far to be a disappointment. the only problem is the status of reminder. the director not propose a story, his story. only replace the same ingredients in a neutral manner. result - a beautiful film, first for its fragility, for images, for the references to Gothic, Scandinavian art, Sci. Fi. and a trend about special young people. the problem - the story has a fine potential and the silence, so generous used, could be better made.after its end remains only the flavor of a special form of poetry. like old pictures from an album.
Peter Pluymers
"Dad says it's to keep other people out. But I don't believe him anymore. We're the only ones here. I think it's just meant to keep us in.""One and Two" is a kind of pastoral version of "The Maze Runner" and "Jumpers". A magical place at an unknown place where Eva (Kiernan Shipka) and Zac (Timothée Chalamet) live a carefree life. Under the scrutiny of their mother Elizabeth (Elizabeth Reaser) and their tyrannical father Daniel (Grant Bowler) the two teenagers grow up while they perform the assigned daily tasks. It looks a bit like "Little house on the prairie". Only the beautiful farm and the idyllic setting are surrounded by an immense wooden fence. A kind of natural barrier to separate Eva and Zac from the outside world. Why and how long this commune exists, isn't thoroughly explained in movie filled with beautiful images. And that isn't the only thing.I wonder what genre of film they actually had in mind. A kind of superhero film in which two innocent looking teens have a limited superpower? Or a "coming of age" film with two growing teenagers whose desire it is to finally be able to discover the outside world? Or was religious fanaticism and the associated superstition the central theme? All these themes were incorporated into this film. But really well developed they weren't. The second part with Eva mainly starring in it, actually was pretty disappointing. The arising situation was ideal to add more energetic elements.The performances are subtly executed, despite their simplicity. Brother and sister obediently carry out everything in the daytime and devoutly recite their prayers before supper. Their daily routine is only interrupted by a swim in a local pond. And in the evening their rebellious nature kicks in and they play tag in the fields while they use their mysterious force. Next there is Daniel. A devout father who fears this mystery and blames this demonic evil to be the cause of the deteriorating health of his wife. Shipka is most in the spotlight because Chalamet disappears after a while into the background. All play their roles well, even though the content is rather meager.But especially the camera work deserves the most praise. This is already clear from the opening scene with the sunlight illuminating water, after which it's suddenly interrupted by the diving bodies of Eva and Zac. A brilliant light show which was shot very professionally. The nocturnal escapades of the two are beautifully filmed. It's just the unanswered questions that kills this film. What's the use of the great wall since Eva and Zac effortlessly can teleport through it? Also sneaking back in their bedroom at night was kind of ridiculous. Why didn't they use the same procedure as they used before? And where did this special gift come from? Eventually "One and two" was intriguing and contained an interesting topic, but it wasn't satisfactory enough. Sometimes there are films which aren't impressive in terms of content, but the design and cinematic framing still ensure that it remains fascinating and it is worthwhile to see it till the end.More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT
Seth_Rogue_One
I don't really know what to say about this movie because frankly I don't really know much to nothing of what it's about.A low-key indie-drama with a supernatural 'twist' (I say that lightly) that seems extremely random, but then as I can't make much sense of the movie it's not any more random than anything else in it I suppose.The acting was fine, the cinematography was nice and but that doesn't help much when the plot is so in the air and we're never really given a chance to know why the characters do what they do and how they become to be what they are.There is potentially some sort of philosophical or poetic meaning behind the all but colour me stupid but I don't know what that would be, and I'm not really sure I care.
BrianVLau
So it's okay. It's fine. It's a movie that was made, but not made well. There's no passion, no story, no style, nothing. It's a movie that proves this director can put a movie together, outside of Rich Hill. Autumn Durald does a great job with the cinematography, despite there clearly being more budgetary constraints than Palo Alto, most notably the oval bokeh and the obvious digital grain, from the upped-ISO.The movie is bearable, it's watchable, but not interesting. The dialogue, however, is laughable, and the Tree of Life internal monologues are baffling. This movie is practically a series of events, albeit beautiful to look at and competently put together, with no real satisfying conclusion nor moral.This movie doesn't deserve the critical panning it has from RottenTomatoes, it's one of the better movies of the year, which I guess isn't saying much.Kiernan Shipka, and everyone really, look bored and brooding. They have nothing to work with, and when they do, it's executed laughably and obnoxiously. I have no doubt Shipka has acting chops, but this doesn't prove it, she mopes around with a vaguely confused face the whole movie.Timothee Chalamet is the best actor in the movie, and he barely has anything to show, possibly because no one has any characterization besides "quiet, distant, scared." I hope he stops being type-casted as Tom Cooper, because even when he's given the opportunity to act in these movies, it's quickly cut short (in this, his screaming and clawing are drowned out by a glaring score, muting any actual skill required to show emotion or character struggle).Hopefully Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special shows this movie up, I'm pretty disappointed. (If at any point you think I'm blindly "hating" on this movie, the very fact that I was even looking forward to a movie that wasn't advertised or talked about shows my initial interest.)