Rent High Life (2018)

In space no-one can hear you scream - High Life review by JD3

As PG the other reviewer rightly points out 20 mins of a baby screaming usually does for me but I thought I would give it a chance. Wrong. Not one redeeming feature in the entire film. I thought Moon was the worst space film I had seen.. Now this has topped it. I really only like posting positive reviews but if I can save just one of you from enduring this it will have been worth it.

A vision ultimately not fully realised? - High Life review by PD

Mmmm ... had to think hard and long about this one. Here's where I'm at fwiw

First, the strengths: i liked the juxtaposition of the jarring, often startling imagery with the minimal dialogue, and the film certainly raises many interesting themes and ideas, generally painting a grim apocalyptic picture with humanity at war with itself aka Lord of the Flies (although to be fair it's not totally pessimistic). There's also an interesting counter-intuitive dynamic to the members of the ship, where the women are shackled to their beds while the men are permitted to roam free, whilst at the same time, upending the power dynamic with Binoche's Dr. Dibs in control over the relatively docile men, coercing them into submission by dangling the promise of return to Earth if they behave. Societal pressure is the only thing standing between men and their next “conquest”? Structurally, the film employs a clever non-linear story to weave the tale - one in 3 parts where we watch Part 2 first (Monte raising daughter on deserted ship), then part 1 (fragments about what led to the situation), then pt 3. There's quite a few exposition sequences to fill us in but because of Denis' minimalist style, she prefers to just jam this info into as short a space as possible, but you get used to this and anyone with half a brain can follow it, honest! And the fact that it will annoy some sci-fi enthusiasts is another plus for me - for (of course) it's less interested in humanity’s future than its present, and, aka JG Ballard, uses the sci-fi setting as an excuse to explore the human condition (esp its ugly side). Finally, Binoche's performance is emotionally packed, conveying deep pain, repression, and longing.

But, but - the weaknesses. As many critics have noted, it's (deliberately) highly disturbing at nearly every turn, creating a number of sequences that are not for the squeamish or easily offended. Now, I've not got a problem with this at all as such, but I'm feeling here it's a little too obvious and self-conscious in this respect, and the constant images of rape, assault, murder, grief, gore, claustrophobia, suffering, general despair, etc etc are pounded into you over and over without much reprieve, which simply wears you down in the end to the point that you just want to be released, frankly. Moreover, Binoche's Dibs apart, the actors are solid enough but leave you rather unmoved - it's difficult to care about any of them.

Taken as a whole, for me the form didn’t match the function and much of the film’s complexity is lost in the shuffle somewhat - too often the ideas here, visual and otherwise, feel haphazard: outer and inner space, Pattinson’s head, sexual taboo, apocalypse now or maybe then etc etc — more like material for a 'vision board' than something fully realised.

Spoiler Alert : The Ending. - High Life review by BG

Don't read this if you haven't seen the film yet. I think the ending works on several different levels. The lone astronaut travelling through space is hallucinating might be an interpretation, but not one that I would share. When he and his teenage daughter enter "The Crocodile's Eye" I don't think will have the same effect as the previous crew member who perished horribly going through the black hole. It's possible that the ending could be pessimistic, but I would like to think not. If it means their death, then the gradual bright whiteness might be symbolic of a transition to a Heavenly status. I prefer the theory that they will be travelling into another dimension, similar to the lone astronaut in 2001:A Space Odyssey who went through the Star Gate and experienced a cosmic revelation. But of course it's down to the viewer's own interpretation.

Unrelenting misery - High Life review by CP Customer

Oh dear.  I admire Robert Pattinson for not going down the "good-looking leading man" route after The Twilight Saga, but although there was nothing wrong with his acting, this was a pretentious film and rather silly in parts.  I felt thoroughly miserable by the end.  What was Juliette Binoche thinking - the roles must really be drying up - talk about scenery-chewing soft porn!!  The ending was ambiguous but, I thought, apt.  I watched the interview with the Claire Denis afterwards and she was very irritated that the  interviewer hadn't understood the film or the ending - perhaps she should have been less concerned with being arty and more concerned about telling a good story.  Not recommended.

Hated this film - High Life review by PG

Watched the first 20 minutes and it was mainly a baby screaming, had to switch it off, to say it was irritating was to say the least. 

Dismal career-wrecker of a film - High Life review by TE

This is a film that fails to work on any of the levels it aspires to.

As a narrative it is hopelessly lost in a scattergun array of flashbacks. As sci-fi it has nothing new to say. As arthouse cinema it is miserably pretentious and dull.

Juliette Binoche must have owed Claire Denis a big favour to have allowed herself to be part of this awful turkey of a film.

Really Boring - High Life review by CP Customer

Couldn't get passed the first 20 minutes, two people fell asleep and the other couldn't stand the sound of the baby crying. Switched it off in the end.