Newness

There are many montages in this movie to move things along, all with soothing piano music that therefore must be touching and sweet, but in actuality, these characters are so one dimensional, selfish, and unlikeable that you end up not caring if they end up together. I get that it's trying to be a look at millennial dating, but there's literally nothing beyond the "sex" level here. No interesting conversations, no intelligent dialogue, nothing beyond just sex. I would say it was a let down, but I had no expectations, so it was ok-ish.

Nicholas Hoult and Laia Costa are very attractive young people compulsively using a dating app and having several minute stands. They match one night ... after each had already had a previously unsuccessful hook-up ... and meet for drinks, but hit it off so well that they don't just immediately have sex. Soon they are in a committed relationship, but familiarity creeps in and they conveniently cheat on each other on the same night. They realize that while they really do love each other, they are also really drawn to the rush of new relationships, so they decide to try an open relationship. Each is allowed to pursue other people as long as they are completely honest with each other?

So ... do you think that works out well for them?

This movie has some things going for it. Hoult and Costa are really quite good ... Costa especially ... and neither will disappoint in the film's numerous and quite explicit sex scenes. The style, impressionistic with very close, hand-held jittery cam, makes the early sequences pretty exciting, and the film goes quite some way towards recreating the rush of physical attraction and first love.

This relationship is not very interesting though. The really quite charming actors are not given characters that ever have much of interest to say, so it's tough to invest much in their relationship. Once the open relationship starts going south and Danny Huston enters the film, you're almost routing for the Huston/Costa pairing to prevail since he's actually given decent things to say. The film reaches a conclusion, but it's not a very compelling one since you don't really care about this couple and the issues that drove them into an open relationship are never really resolved anyway.

My first review ever. Just finished watching this gem of a movie, and I am blown away. There were so many emotions played out in this movie, it should be impossible not to relate to.

The topic is a coming-of-age story. Two young people in the big city, who want to experience everything. And it seems like everything is available today. And your smartphone just amplifies all the choices you have.

The tone of the movie is slow and somewhat grey all throughout. Camera action and music is slow and deliberate really supporting the heavy emotions. It is not sad though. Just really intense. The movie explores many emotions and experiences, and gives you plenty of time to feel them yourself. Don't want to spoil it, but they get to go through a lot.

The main casting was really good. Actors took their time to get into the roles. Some background stories were told but only when needed. Also plenty of good supporting roles.

It all makes for a very interesting story, and as a viewer you really relate to the characters and what they go through.

It is rare that a movie has the guts and takes the time to deal with so much, and do it so well.

The subjects are bound to cause reflection, so if you watch it with your significant other, be ready to take some time afterwards to reflect and discuss.

I was very impressed 10/10

I almost made the mistake of switching the movie off 15 minutes in. Thankfully I didn't. Laia Costa in a very emotional scene captivated me as she did for the whole movie and the story finally really began. Even though we get obvious unsubtle punches against facebook and tinder it is not really about these technologies because they are just that. They don't force us to do anything. It is about generation "swipe left if you are bored". It is about running away from conflict thus running away from real relationships. Relationships are messy. They always have been always will be. But what makes them deep the work you put in. The best quote of the movie nails it: "love is two people not giving up on each other" as I didn't give up on this movie 15 minutes in being rewarded at the end.

For a movie that has relationship written all over it in the "modern era" (that is with cell phones and apps to find "love"), this really could be called a modern day love story. So while you could compare it to "Love", this is not as explicit as that (though you will have some nudiy in this too), but gets more involved into the characters.

One set up shows closeness physically, but characters being as far apart as possible. It could have gone wrong, too cliche, but the symbolism of it really hits home (no pun intended). The movie generally has quite a few themes, with "newness" being one of them. The pleasure one has to enjoy that. But even with one character living in the past, the connection to "new" is still there. The other character may not want anything newer, but that plays into the theme too. Especially when things get mixed up.

The movie tries to analyze a bit and give us a look into the psyche, but it not a psychological study. You can read a couple of things into it, but it does try to stay in the drama department and the general flow of the movie. Good themes, good acting and a good script about a ... new sort of love story