rklein123

This is an excellent Spanish language short. While the story revolves around a same sex couple, it really could be anyone.

The story unfolds slowly, and it is a bit confusing during the process - not to say the film is slow. There's an interesting and subtle mystery about exactly what we're watching and what, exactly, is going on.

But the end is well worth the wait, as the story and the earlier scenes all come into stark focus.

A movie about personal histories, decisions, regret, remorse, life.

Is it nostalgia, or melancholy? That's the question at the start of the film, and it's the question at the end.

Very well executed and acted.

Why do people make movies? Some are pure entertainment. Others have something to say. A message, a point of view, an examination of a particular aspect of something, or of something as broad as the human condition.

There are films that make a meaningful statement, and are still very entertaining. Some are a bit deeper.

This film is about the human condition. It's formatted as a series of vignettes. Some are related, others seem unrelated. Some contain humor, others do not.

Don't watch this movie if your expecting light entertainment. It's not a RomCom, and it's not Star Wars.

There is a metaphorical quality to most of the film, and it has a lot to say about humans, and how they see and inhabit their world.

The movie is slow, and mostly colorless, yet fascinating and interesting if you are able and willing to put the effort into following it, and dedicating some thought to it.

There are some criticisms in the reviews that it's boring. That it's disconnected. That it's negative.

I suppose there are those who love to see movies like Independence Day, and think they're exciting, but not negative (despite the near destruction of humanity).

This film is probably for a more thinking observer. There's plenty to see here, and much to interpret.

I think Roy Andersson did an amazing job bringing this to the screen.

There are some very insightful reviews here that provide useful thoughts and interpretations. I'd encourage viewers to comb through the reviews to gain from some insights that others have had about the film.

I watched this without knowing anything about it. And I enjoyed it. But I found it confusing.

I liked it enough to read the book, thinking it might explain some of the things I thought I missed understading in the film.

The film is visually excellent, creating a mysterious and foreboding sensibility. The book, however, excels in that department!

There are elements of the book, particularly at the end, that were much more fleshed out. In fact, while some of the scenes were similar, the book provided a context.

Both the movie and book are very good psychological thrillers, more than they are what I think of as "horror."

But the film adds a backstory that wasn't in the book which, ultimately, I found confounding. I don't think the ending of the movie was clear, because it was missing the larger context.

And I think that's why many reviews discredit the ending of the movie. It tries to squeeze the ending into a different context, and instill a different meaning that made less sense - at least to me.

I was left wondering... Who ARE these people? What's going on upstairs in that house? Are those things really moving? Are they alive?

The book makes all of those vague references in the movie crystal clear.

The movie stands well on its own, but the ending has some real shortfalls and gets confusing at the end.

Together, the book and the movie make a great team. The story in the book, and the visual enhancement of the movie = 10 stars.