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Fantastic and heartbreaking, this film delivers extremely strong and pronounced emotions from two stellar performances.

Written and directed by Paddy Considine, he has displayed an incredible aptitude for filmmaking. I dare not give anything away, even minor characters. This film was astounding, especially for a feature-length debut. It is among the strongest directorial debuts I have ever seen, supported further by its masterful acting. This films screenplay was wonderful, filled with riveting emotions, swinging between them like a pendulum, while maintaining tone very well. This film is a drama and a heavy one at that, but it has much needed lighter moments. The balance of extremely strong emotional and dramatic scenes amongst the rest of the film was also very well achieved. Nothing feels like a wasted moment, it feels slim but it feels like a long journey, despite the 92 minute runtime. This film felt longer, but only in the best ways. It displays how incredible its story is, one doesn't notice the length, its all so perfectly balanced. And scenes of emotional weight thus have greater impact, they are all so incredible, some shock, awe, scare and others a tragic, particularly towards the very start of the film and the final act. This directing from Considine is truly incredible, and shows what a real artist can make without the baggage of over budgeting nor any other silliness, it is pure raw talent, as films of this caliber should be.

Peter Mullan was Joseph was a sight to behold. From hatred to love, is just what the audience feels. This performance has so many facets and subtle layers, I believe I must watch the film again to pick up on that even more, which is rare for me. There is such a buffet of performing from him, it is very good, albeit at times a quiet performance, relying on facial expression and non-movement even, but one can see the emotion, the confusion in his character so clearly.

But, I must say, the best performance in this film was from Olivia Colman as Hannah. Colman's performance was flawless and heartbreaking, unforgettable, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking of her character. It was incredible, one feels the need to be silent and go for a walk after what one has seen from this performance and the character. The character has incredible emotional weight, not for the faint of heart. It was such a complex character, with so many motives and reasons, emotions and an incredible unforgettable arc, one of the most dramatic Ive ever seen play out over less than 90 minutes, but it is so perfect in almost every way. I could write and talk about the mastery and passion of this performance for hours, I think it to be the best of Colman's career so far, maybe on par with her as Queen Anne in 'The Favourite', it is just so incredible. The fact it wasn't BAFTA nominated and didn't win hundreds of awards is beyond me. One just has to see, words do it little justice.

The cinematography of this film was very stark, in the best of ways. Setting out scenes to play out in very natural ways, but never sensationalising them. All the colours are very natural well, as if it was shot without stage lights, which I appreciate greatly, and think shows great strength in directing and cinematography as well as subliminal meanings. This film is anything but dynamic in its angles, it is very cold, very real, very emotional.

Overall this film was an awe inspiring journey, with some incredible screenwriting and characterisation and arcs, further aided by the masterful direction of Paddy Considine and spearheaded on screen by Mullan and Colman's incredible performances. Some aspects of this film are unforgettable, heartbreaking and heavy, it balances itself so supremely without ever faltering, that it deserves a 9/10 for its mastery, and breathtakingly amazing performances.

Quite beautiful in so many ways, from its quiet approach, tonal mastery and class performances, this film was a great delight to behold.

"No matter how long it takes. I will always love you", this line has a great a many lines on love, between sparse sweeps of dialogue free sequences, and chanting in Hebrew. This film was highly intriguing, delivered mostly by the performances which were fed by good direction and a great screenplay.

Rachel Weisz as Ronit Krushka was a wondrous performances, many have called it 'nuanced' and I agree, it is extremely well crafted, and performed. Giving the character greater depth, personality, motives, fears and emotion. Often in films with LGBT characters, they are left underdeveloped, however here it is quite the opposite. Playing what is a very unique performance that is highly memorable. A standing ovation for Rachel Weisz is due for this performance.

Rachel McAdams as Esti Kuperman was a very strong performance, though I thought for her's to be inferior to Weisz's, it was still great in its own right. Her character is certainly more quiet, and more restrained, but McAdams plays this restraint and repression highly successfully, without being repetitive of other lesbian characters nor clichéd.

Alessandro Nivola as Dovid Kuperman deserves much praise, although his character was somewhat in the peripheries and a third wheel for most of the film, by the latter parts of the second act and most of the third, his character was portrayed extremely compellingly. And by the end, his demeanour, arc and most importantly Nivola's performance is hard to forget.

The screenplay and direction (By Sebastián Lelio) in tandem worked very well together, there was a certain sense of melancholia that was present throughout the whole feature, delivered by most likely the directors influence, it all felt very real. No part of this film felt unrealistic, and thus was highly engaging in that regard. However on the downside, at times it was a little slow, the events of this film would have run at ten to maybe twenty minutes faster, while still covering all the story with the same dramatic effect. It felt like too much bread and too little butter, although I felt this, I understand why it runs for almost two hours, and it still works at that runtime. I just felt it could have been perhaps more impactful at a slightly shortened runtime. However, some scenes do play out very slowly, and this works to a magnificent effect, in particular the opening 15 minutes, and when they visit the former fathers house as well as the final scenes in the synagogue. However other scenes did feel overly long and didn't carry the impact they were aiming for, thus if they were shortened I believe it would have benefited the feature as a whole, which is a fault of the editing. However, another effect of this is that the film ends up being extremely tonally consistent, every scene played out naturally, nothing felt out of place, which is a great achievement especially when one factors in the delicate subject matters the film deals with. Had the film of not had that restraint and consistence, it would not of had the same emotion nor dramatic effect, and maturity which it carried really very well. And thus that is a great strength of the editing, which is very strange to see it so strong is certain aspects yet more weak in others.

The director of this film, Sebastián Lelio, clearly knew how ro construct his characters. As I stated before, nothing feels out of place. This film feels deeply human, and has huge punches of emotion and are long built up to by great craftsman ship, primarily the way he shaped the performances and his use of cinematography.

Cinematographically this film was very interesting for a multitude of reasons. On the one hand, its angulation and framing was always on point, and delivered subliminal meaning to great effect, changing how it was held, where it was placed all to reflect and add to a scenes particular emotion, it did this to a more successful degree than most films, particularly most contemporary films.

On the other hand I must hold my horses, for I could not tell wether the use of colour and lighting in this film was either the work of a master, or extremely boring and dull. Almost all of the film has a very flat, quite detached, mostly standard grey and deep blue colour palette. Which to me seems dull, but perhaps this is due to my jaded sense of colour as this is how most contemporary (Primarily big budget) films look, very dull use of colour. However I also think that this colour decision was deliberate, to reflect on the characters detachment from her community, family and religion, and to further heighten the atmosphere of melancholia and a past that many characters would prefer to forget. While I do think the way this film looks is more due to the latter, I struggled to separate this from how dull and boring so many films colour has become. And this film takes it up to eleven, it was difficult to tell if it was a very deep stylistic choice or a product of current trends. My sense was further offset when in the synagogue scenes the colour suddenly became more vibrant, more contrasted. This could be to mirror and add to emotions, or perhaps not. But overall I think for the film use of colour to be extremely clever, albeit it accidentally mirrors many of the boring current trends set by contemporary blockbusters.

Overall this film was very much worth watching, it is a highly thought provoking piece, spearheaded by the top class performances. Although it lets itself down in certain aspects, in others it is extremely strong. Thus this film is worthy of its praise. It is a beautiful film, with a great love story which brings great thought and care into it delicate subject matters. In my opinion its a 8/10.

Rarely does a film feature in my mind quite as this one did, raring for weeks for its arrival. Yet in the futures stead, this may stand a the one to define this decade. A hail to the Lesbians, a cry for mastery, a perfection in comedy, a masterclass in drama and what brings a director from auteur to master.

This film shall not be easily forgotten. I say this not lightly, but this possibly the best directed motion picture that I have ever seen. This is Yorgos Lanthimos' masterpiece, on par with the classics of bygone eras and delivering a new wave into the future of filmmaking. I believe for this film's influence to lay beyond one awards season, and be heard in the years to come, as two hours in which this enfolds is the greatest that film can be. It challenges normality, has strengths where others do not, and makes perfection of what it can.

The narrative, from full picture perspective was perfect. Perfectly paced, and I have never seen a film balance it's tones so incredibly. How they say: 'You'll laugh and cry' - well I did, and by god did I love it. Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara's screenplay is the years best, without a shadow of a doubt I can say this. Its characterisation os a momentous achievement that will be subject a great many analysis in video and book. Their perfect act structure is one of great pleasure and uniqueness, for I suspect that this film play over not 3, but 4 acts. If one were to watch this feature, and pay attention to its screenplay's structure, I think others would suspect it to be this way. This is a peculiar number of acts, but it plays to this films strength, making it more engaging, though some may say the end drags on a bit, I found it to be to my personal liking.

The direction of this film by the great Yorgos Lanthimos was his best, the years best, and among the best ever put to film. The best I have seen. His mastery over performances (Which I will get to later), over cinematography, over sound, over the physical look of the sets and costumes, it has his mark all over it. And by the day, does it come to fruition in an ablaze of glory. This film is distinct, yet its flavour its certainly more palatable than his other features, Lanthimos' strong flavour is unwavered in my opinion. While it is more accessible than his other films, it is simply more subliminal, that his fans would understand and normal visitors will not.

The performances were simply astonishing. Olivia Colman as Queen Anne was the best performance I have seen from any actor or actress for the entire of the 2018 film season. Her performance is enough to see this film on its own, her character was tragic, hilarious, deeply troubled, and yet a frightening reflection of what could happen to anyone. 'Stalked by tragedy' is one way she is described, and while I will not quote historical facts which are spoilers, her character was far more compelling than I had expected her to be, thanks mostly to Colman's performance. Her acting prowess is surely on course for great honours in the weeks to come.

Rachel Weisz was Sarah Churchill the Duchess of Marlborough, (Who is actually related to Winston Churchill), was incredible. Her characters command over scenes, even ones where she is in loss, cruelty or evil, is a control over the screen that is formidable and unforgettable. In particular the shooting scenes, the hot chocolate scene and her and Annes final scene (Not a spoiler), they were portrays of perfect chemistry, perfect acting, on levels that were scarcely see a few times a decade. Could there be anything more grand, more gorgeous than this performance, a perfect portrayal of all the worse sides of aristocracy, and of a manipulative friendship, one that is a vie for power, for control, to be the favourite.

Emma Stone as Abigail Hill was I think, her best performance to date. Though it was only this films third best (in my opinion), it was etherial, stark, incredibly well layered and portrayed. The fact that it is only this films third best, as is still of such a level, goes to show the caliber of this feature. I found for her portrayal of arrogance to be the part to discern the most from the others, but truly this is an amazing performance.

The rest of the cast was also stellar. Nicolas Hoult in particular was a welcome addition, as well as the rabbits. The rabbits represented so much more than cuteness and cuddliness, they were love, fear, hate, depression, gout, and a cruel past all rolled up into little bundles of fun. This film wouldn't be the same without the rabbits.

The Cinematography was astounding to say the least. I had heard that cinematography Robbie Ryan had stated that Yorgos Lanthimos was basically the director of photography. And this does show, its his mark which is most present, in its sweeping left to right turns, and specific colour palette (Mostly browns and greys in this feature) it is pure Lanthimos, as most of his films follow a two colour palette in most of their composition. The use of natural light was also well chosen, highlighting light and dark, the duality of people, very excellent things most normal viewers do not notice on first viewing. The shot design was unique, more so than other Lanthimos films. The use of Panavision super-wide shots was great, really fun. And his signature angulation of not showing faces is toned down in this film, but is modified in certain ways and is just as strong and unique as his other films.

The set design was remarkable, mostly shot at and Hatfield House, it feels more immersive than any other film set in this period. Everything felt real, despite the small budget. The costumes, just give them an oscar. They were easily the years best, and I would say on the level of the best this side of 2000. On the level of The Lord Of The Rings, they never faltered, and were highly suited, pure eye candy. The makeup and hairstyling were also of the highest quality, also the years best. They were messy, fun, outrageous, immersive, all the marks they aimed for were hit. a perfect shot, not a beat missed. These factors all weighed in, especially the wigs and 'Badger' looking makeup are what historically sold the time period, as well as supplementing the narrative, setting the greatest backdrop for Lanthimos' direction.

The Sound was also a notable factor. Rather more immersive than I had imagined, ever book thrown, tea cup set, and step taken is accounted for. Adding to eeriness, love, endearingness and fear of every scene. Also it subliminally sets one into he film more comfortable, making one notice their own surroundings less, it was highly clever and well executed.

On the weaker side, there was a momentarily feeling I had during the first act that it wasn't all clicking together as well as I had though, however by 20 minute this feeling had passed. Especially since this film has perhaps the strongest second act in the film this side of 2000. Many contemporary films weaken and lose pace in the second acts, but this actually maintains it's trajectory more strongly than anything made during my own life time (That I have seen).

Finally, in the end: This was, I can say with confidence,the best film of the year. Everything, as a final product, fitted together so supremely. This is one for the history books and sets Yorgos Lanthimos' name into stone. For its portrayal of love is so intimate, and truthful, yet subliminal and as all lanthimos features do, sets more questions than it answers. It is now down to the viewers to decide what they thought of its questions, and in that, it is true cinematic perfection. Also classic Lanthimos weird dancing is present, which is always a treat. 5/5