The Child in Time (2018)

Strong and Moving!

Please don't spend money on this.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

So surprised at the negative reviews, but certainly art is always a matter of personal taste. I found the story beautifully done, loved the characters and appreciated the various ways the title was interpreted in the intersecting storylines. I truly enjoyed everything about this film.

I so wanted to like this. I have to admit I enjoy everything Benedict Cumberbatch does and I thought he was excellent in it. The loss of the daughter was dealt with fairly briefly and the story did not dwell on the immediate loss for long. One was soon aware that some time had passed - but not indicated very clearly - I guessed five years, but I think it turned out to be three. The marriage had broken up, which was understandable in many ways and he was trying to continue with normal life though still "haunted" by visions of his daughter, which at one point began to seem like a credible sighting. Less easy to follow was the Parliamentary committee link and his friend Charles who undergoes a drastic and painful nervous breakdown - one just wondered why the character and his wife were brought in. NOT having read the book, I was unaware that Charles's wife was a scientist doing some sort of research into Time and Relativity. Perhaps if that had been made clear I'd have been less puzzled by the seaside pub scenes. I had NO idea even up to the end that the young woman IN the pub was supposed to be his own mother, when younger, seeing a vision of him! I'd thought it was his wife as a teenager. And the "vision" of a young boy smiling at him on the Tube - again a total puzzle. I could have done with a little more "signposting" as to when things were occurring - two weeks, three months, four years etc And the visions could have had a more misty quality, a draining or an enhancing of colour for instance. Yes, I know, very clichéd, but it would have helped an otherwise bewildering story. One could never quite grasp where it was going or why. However, that is not to criticise the performances - I thought the actors were ALL excellent and believable in character - particularly the repressed and edgy Charles. It's just some of the events (you do NOT just walk into a school and talk to a child unchallenged!) and the lack of corroborative detail, made it a "bald and unconvincing narrative"!

I love this movie; it is very beautifully written and performed. The music is my favorite part, really enjoy listening to it smooth in and out as the plot unfolds. Benedict's acting is as amazing as always, especially in the scene when he realised he mistook someone else's daughter as Kate, that kind of melancholy and heart-broken. I can't understand Charlie's part very well but I guess it is indicating that everyone has a child in their heart that they are searching for and love. I hope I can get more insights from the original book. :)

I was at a total loss virtually from the start of this movie. By the end, I was offended by the lack of respect shown to families who've lost a child, and those who've suffered mental illness. Quite an achievement in less than 90 minutes. A child goes missing. An unthinkable situation for any parent, and for those that have lost a child (whether taken or through them passing) it's of course utterly traumatising. Having supported friends who did lose a child, there were of course periods where they appeared to live life as normal, but for at least two years the overwhelming emotions were deep grief and panic. This film however seemed to suggest it was less upsetting than having lost your dog - i've seen more emotion shown by friends frantically looking for their pet than was shown by the parents of this lost child. They instead seemed to experience virtually no emotion or grief at all for the majority of the film, and instead just got on with their lives. This is not only totally unrealistic, it is offensive to families who've actually been through this. Then, to add insult to injury, they also throw in there the complex and devastating problems of mental illness and suicide. Losing a child is clearly not a deep enough subject through which to explore the complexities of human emotion, let's add this to the mix as well!?! So, all in all, a film that totally fails to convey the difficulty and emotion caused by these deeply traumatic experiences. Avoid.