Here

Here is likely one of the most real movies I've seen lately. Therefore, despite having an extremely slow pace and a really thin plot, its captivating storytelling and true relationships make you feel as if you were watching a true reality show, without the fireworks and unnecessary commentary.

It doesn't offer much in terms of the story itself. It's a simple tale of a simple man, Stefan, who's living an ordinary life and looking for some purpose in his everyday struggles. We know that doing so isn't as easy as it sounds, and is actually a quite complicated goal amidst all the troubles of life. The director Bas Devos knows it all too well and sticks true to the movie's concept.

During the film, Stefan stumbles across Shuxiu. At first sight, they don't really have any connections, yet, in a typical human manner, it blossoms from the simplest of things and conversations. Their relationship slowly develops throughout the film, and is both complex and simple, which is quite paradoxical, but we get it. In the end, each of us had similar interactions in our lives as well.

The movie puts a strong emphasis on visual storytelling, focusing on nature and how it springs to life despite harsh conditions. I believe it's a metaphor for Stefan and Shuxiu's relationship, which, in the face of early contradictory essence, somehow begins to work as well.

On top of that, both Stefan and Shuxiu's relationships with other people are almost too natural for cinema.

Unfortunately, Here doesn't have much else to offer besides stunning visuals that feel right to have in a story like this. It may be enough for slow cinema fans, who are keen on simple stories. I personally wanted to get hooked on it, but there wasn't enough for me to hold onto. Still, you leave the cinema pretty moved, with a tiny smile on your face, due to the movie's sweet ending, which feels as if we've lived it ourselves, at least once in our lives.

This is one of the few films I have seen that shows more than plot and action. That is what humans, as we build our cities, seek because we are bored, frightened, and need to survive. But underlying all this activity is the quiet and organized intelligence of nature and the universe that most people will never see or acknowledge.

A cruder mind might find this film as dull as watching moss grow. But the spectacular in life is often not even noticed. We just need to get things done and move onto the next thing. For example, Stephan's, the main character's sister keeps saying she doesn't have time for a longer visit with him, even though he is leaving the country (Belgium) and may not return.

When one of his friends tells of a near death experience in which all the people who touched his soul surrounded him, Stephan saw something that redeems this life from just being a round of chores, sleeping, and eating.

When Stephan is introduced to the overlooked splendor of the huge variety of mosses that most people trample underfoot, he also experiences a light coming on in his life that gives it beauty.

It takes courage to go beyond rom-coms, action flicks, and political statements to produce a light that shines on the perfection of life right here.

The thing I love most about Bas Devos is his approach to allowing me to experience his films in a meditative state and how he just let you chill out and really feel what's going on with the characters. It's all so natural, like you're just experiencing daily life alongside them. His latest, "Here," kinda reminds me of his earlier film "Ghost Tropic" with its themes offering a more tender exploration of human connection and isolation.

This 16mm tender embrace, a visual poem of moss, invites us into the bittersweet lives of two strangers in Brussels. A chance encounter brings Stefan and Shuxiu together but parting ways is inevitable. Devos masterfully juxtaposes their inner worlds with the beauty of the natural world, creating a poignant contrast for this simplistic story. Th ending is a thoughtful choice, avoiding the need for both characters to engage in extended dialogue or monologues. And the ending? It's just perfect. No big speeches needed, Shuxiu's reaction says it all and just speaks volumes.

And it's not just about the great outdoors; there's also that quiet feeling of being indoors, meandering reflection on the transience of life. In the calm stillness of "Here," even simple things like a train's reflection or the rain-pelted window, so profound, especially with the way it's framed. It just creates this amazing sense of intimacy.

Intimacy.

Ultimately, "Here" is one of those films that just makes you want to slow down, notice the little beautiful things, and find a bit of comfort in all those fleeting moments we experience. It's a real gem.

This is the definition of an "artsy" and pretentious movie. Not just a STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE : There is nothing substantial here. Nothing meaningful, nothing that you're gonna remember it for a while. A shallow and hollow movie about Nothing. There is a guy who's obsessively making soups, a girl, at some point near the ending they met each other and take a trip into a Brussels park, and that's it.

I would be less hostile if this hadn't a 92/100 Metascore rating. Movie critics have totally lost any touch with reality.

Still, i gave it 5 stars because for some strange reason, i watched the whole movie without struggling. At some point, for 2 minutes, viewer watches only grass and roots and something like that, and it is less boring than it seems. Probably the best part. It's a sweet movie, nothing vile and twisted here, characters are boring and forgettable but likeable. And its running time helps a lot, it's only 80 minutes.

There is something soul soothing in this movie, and i cannot not appreciate, hence the 5 stars. But this is not Cinema. Just some nice shots are not enough for an artistic creation. There is no story here. It's more like a documentary than a movie.

The melting pot that is present day Europe should be an inspiration for more uplifting stories about the things that bind us as people. I would be hard pressed to find examples for this, the focus, both in the news and in cinema, being foremost on tension and conflict. It makes sense, conflict drives storytelling and keeps us engaged. Yet, here we are, in the world of Bas Devos, where human connection springs eternal from the most unexpected of sources.

This is a conflict-less story. Or, rather, a story that's not really about the conflict. My namesake Stefan, a Romanian construction worker living in Belgium, is about to travel back home, but needs to get his car fixed before leaving. He also needs to clear his fridge, so makes a big pot of soup out of whatever he finds.

This haphazardly concocted soup then proves a wonderous lubricant of the human spirit, it opens doors in a Balkanic tradition, but also forges moments of connection and intimacy, the way sharing food so often does. Per chance, in pre-departure to and fros, Stefan meets Shuxiu, a Belgian-Chinese woman who works on her doctorate about mosses, while also helping out one of her relatives who runs a small restaurant. It's the unlikeliest of connections, but perfectly in the spirit that Here inhabits.

At just 82 minutes, the movie is strikingly short. Especially if you get into its mood, it will lull you before you even realize it's ending. We are so used to our urban jungles, that nature takes on ever more mystical qualities. In the world of Here, nature provides, in all its delicate simplicity. Stefan Gota and Liyo Gong play their understated parts in this symphony and we feel immediately drawn to them, to join them. We are traveling back to the roots of our quintessential sense of connection, in an almost idealistic form of said conflict-less world. But it's not really a world without conflict, rather one where it has temporarily ceased and made room for tenderness.

Here is a moment in time, the proverbial here and now, which is the most blissful place to exist in. It's mischievously elusive, of course, but Bas Devos somehow manages to capture its essence in this movie, that has all the chances of growing on you and showing you true North. 8.