Aloft (2015)

The Worst Film Ever

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

After watching this a second time, I wanted to jot down a word or two or three--especially after reading some critics' reviews.Films have such a unique effect on each individual that I don't really vibe with the word "review" when reading people's comments. I always view them rather as our opinions, feelings and interpretations of a movie--I know that's not an earth-shattering new thought or anything...Thank god for films like this. Amongst the world of overly-saturated big-budge moneymakers, I relish these types of films, always have. Sure, this may not be the most forthcoming and understandable film right out the gate; but with an open mind and a desire for unique storytelling, this film can speak volumes to a viewer. The cinematography (esp. close-up shots) and acting alone are some of the finest pieces of art I've seen. I'm also slightly biased as I am a mad fan of all three main cast members; their performances are so incredibly real as they disappear so seamlessly into their characters that I can be truly convinced they are living this story.Each character is so tragically beautiful and strong, but it's Mélanie's character that I resonate with the most--being young and dealing with an illness, trying to mask it and stay strong to reach whatever goal it is you can possible accomplish to heal yourself. I have lived my own version of this, and she performed it f*cking beautifully.Yes I had some trouble following along the first time through, but I just went with it--there was something about this film that I was OK doing that, letting the story guide me and not inserting my judgments along the way, which is not always the case with me and other movies. It's hard to explain. Even if it's a challenge to grasp the overarching themes/meaning of a film, identifying with or relating to just one element in a story can be enough to strike a cord and change something about a person, in the way they think or go about life or, etc. That's the beauty of storytelling. Also, after reading other comments, it sounds like I may have not viewed the director's cut, but a 15-min shorter version, which is a bummer because I was feeling like something wasn't being shown between Cillian's & Mélanie's characters when it seemed like they became incredibly close through their journey together towards the end. I could tell there was probably something going on between them, but the other scenes alluding to this weren't enough for me. Hoping to see a non-US version eventually.

This movie is like a carcass with no bones... a lovely building with no foundation... music notes without a staff. The scenery is beautiful, the cast is superb, but so much is left to the audience to figure out on their own, that you are often left scratching your head. You are never given a reason to care about the mother or son... there is little depth to their characters, it's very "surface", like the ice that appears ubiquitously in the movie, and in some cases, in the characters' behavior.. Suddenly the mother seems to be saying goodbye to her son, and you're like "WTF?" Aloft is like a book that someone has randomly torn pages out of. And the anticipated ending/reunion? I blinked and the credits rolled!This would have been a terrific movie if it had been longer, more fleshed out, and had an ending worthy of putting all the time, money and effort into making a movie to begin with.

This film tells the story of a journalist, who sets up a meeting between a young man and his mother who tragically abandoned him twenty years ago in a cold, icy land.I don't quit know what "Aloft" is about, because of a poor story and a poorly presented story. The non-linear storyline does not help to clear things up, and in fact it confuses and meddles up everything. Central plot ideas are poorly conveyed, for example the first scene seems completely unrelated and even irrelevant to the rest of the film. Motives and actions of characters are poorly explained that most of the time I don't know what they are doing. As a result I don't even know what exactly drove the mother to abandon her son. I understand there was a tragedy, but what exactly happened that linked the tragedy to the abandonment, which was poorly presented that it happened already before I realised that the scene was about abandonment.I watched it for Jennifer Connelly, but unfortunately "Aloft" is not a high point for Jennifer Connelly's portfolio of work.

An hour and a half into the movie and I am still not entirely sure what is happening. Seriously what the heck am I watching? Terrible movie. Jumps back and forth between the past and future at unrelated points in the story. Dialog is boring. Hard to follow what is going on. Character development is non-existent. The mother discovers she is a mystic healer. The son keeps and trains and keeps predator birds (falcons specifically). The execution of the premise is even more weird and poorly executed than it sounds. This is a really poorly developed story that never should have been made into a movie. Through its entirety the viewer is subjected to bad writing (no range in vocabulary) with a plot that never really happens. The attempt is to masquerade as some deep art piece. It fails. Film was just a crap indie film or a B-Role movie intended to go straight to RedBox. And even it that low bar to shoot for, if the directors hadn't scored Jennifer Connelly in the lead role it wouldn't have even attracted viewership in that subprime outlet. This movie totally relies on viewer recognizing the star on the DVD cover to entice giving the movie a chance. Its not worth the buck you feed into a Redbox machine to rent it. AVOID and spend the hour and a half of your like doing something more worthwhile like try watching paint dry.