Carmen

When the priest of a small Maltese parish dies, his longtime caretaker and housekeeper (his younger, now-spinsterly sister) finds herself without living or working arrangements. What is she to do to support herself? Such is the lot of Carmen, the title character of this slightly whimsical but vastly underdeveloped, allegedly fact-based tale of a woman seeking to discover and reinvent herself at middle age. Writer-director Valerie Buhagiar's latest tries to keep its story light and bouncy, but it often does so without much direction, purpose or follow-through with regard to the various disconnected incidents that arise. It's almost as if the picture is trying to get by on a bucket full of charm and the frequent employment of synchronicities, many of which are supposed to seem meaningful but often go without explanation. The result is a largely pointless exercise in trying to tell a tale that should be full of warmth, fun, lightheartedness and redemption. It's also a missed opportunity to showcase the talent of Natascha McElhone in what should have been one of her best performances in years. But, as it plays now, "Carmen" is, regrettably, more like an inside joke that most of us are being left out of.

A feel-good little film detailing how little sprinklings of humaneness and liberalism can overcome systemic failures in society and the church.

The film is the journey of the titular character traversing from being stifled for many decades to discovering how to be happy once again.

The ending is seemingly deliberately unrealistically over-optimistic, and that's the point. It is a film designed to lift one's spirits and see the good in the world again.

While certainly not for everyone - for example, it won't be for those who like only realistic dramas and those who strongly adhere to the stringent side of Catholicism - personally, I feel in love with it.

It doesn't overstay its welcome and has a few laugh-out-loud moments too, especially in the opening third. Recommended.

A little independent arthouse film, that is quite charming and enjoyable, if you are able to dispend some disbelief about the credibility of the story, which I didnt find hard to do, because this movie has got such an endearing story.

Not any bad? Well, this is probably best suited for a (patience) arthouse audience, who dont mind watching a story unravel slowly.

The good: beautifully photographed, well acted, with an uplifting, endearing story about a woman who accidentally gets mistaken for a priest and decides to seize this opportunity to do some good with her newfound status.

Left me with a smile on my face. Lovely!

I'm a big fan of Natascha Mcelhone and I'm so glad I have seen her performances in other films, before watching this. I can't remember having dragged myself through a worse movie in many, many, many years. It's awful. The story is thin at best and the acting is amateurish beyond belief and the songs from this will keep me up at night for weeks to come. Scenery is nice though, that's it. I'm sorry, but there's absolutely nothing to like about this movie, except for how gorgeous Natasha McElhone looks, while she does her lines with a bad accent. I've seen school plays more convincing than this garbage. Please do not trust high star reviews of this, you will not be rewarded for your time, nor patience.

In a sleepy town on Malta, Carmen (Natascha McElhone) has been taking care of her brother, the local priest, since she was 16 years old. One day, he drops dead and she is left all alone in the world. A new priest is taking over with his own sister housekeeper. Carmen is expected to leave for her family even though she has none. She finds herself taking confessions from the town folks and searching for a life of her own.

Sin is the central theme of this movie. It's the heartbreaking reveal. Rita is obsessed with it. The women in town suffered under it. The movie should open with the priest berating the women and warning against the sin of disobeying their husbands. That would set up the rest of the movie much better. I really love the confessions. It is noticeable that McElhone is changing her hair color along the way. That may be too much. She should keep her greys. This is a wonderful little movie.