RobertLThorpe

The first two season of this were absolutely fantastic. Unique, a sorta X-files meets The walking dead. A group of people from all walks of life and from different era's wake up from their slumber (death) in a small Australian town, and the local sheriff must figure out what going on, as well as those that just woke up. They too want to know. Is it a science experiment, is the apocalypse, is Armageddon? We don't know, and frankly we sorta figure it out in a very disappointing 3rd season.

The 3rd season is ridiculous, 6 episodes to tie it up and you pull a game of thrones final season on us, where nothing really happens, we learn nothing until the final episode and then its over. I get that #Netflix doesn't renew foreign shows, or really any shows unless they are award winners past season 3, but you still could have made it engaging. Literally nothing happens in the 3rd season that is worth noting. Ahh well, moving on the next show to be cancelled by Netflix.

The look of the film is great, Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn are fine, but the two leads performances were, well, as you can tell, they haven't done anything prior and extremely green. Next up, the directing style doesn't help novice actors either, that coupled with the editing style, every poor performance was captured. I remember when hand held meant something to the film, a shaky camera meant tension, unease, and a firm camera meant, safe, and serene. This is all hand held which either was style choice (fail) or financial choice to save on renting dollies, jibs, or even a Steadicam operator.

To the story, the first episode literally tells you nothing other than a girl has a heart condition, gets a new heart and we meet the parents of the girl whose heart it belonged. That's it. Nothing entices me to watch more. I get slow burn shows, I love slow burn shows, but this is so slow, it went backwards. I loved Bloodline, which is an extremely slow burn thriller. The OA is another great slow burn adventure. This is a no burn drama. I just couldn't go on after the first episode, just bland.

There is a lot to like about this film. The performances are wonderful, and I usually don't like Jennifer Lawrence at all. Javier, Ed Harris and the rest of the cast are all delightful in their absurd way. The cinematography is breathtaking. The symbolism is a bit much though, and in the end, where the film fails is story. Is it about a would be mother so controlling that she lashes out at her husband, a famous writer, who she thinks is neglecting her? Is it less in your face, and about how we self destruct ourselves with wanting pride? Is it how we destroy the earth, as some other reviewers have stated. I for one, do not believe it has anything to do with mother nature, since we are never in nature, and never see it destroyed. All that is destroyed are things, we, humanity create. Therein lies the problem, it is not clear, and I hate films that leave it up to the viewer to decide one what it is about. As an artist, regardless of our mind, and our want to create something that says what is on our mind about how we view a particular subject, WE MUST make our vision understandable to the audience as a whole so that it can be understood, appreciated and hopefully applauded. Great art is one that transcends boundaries, needs no major explanation for the mass majority to get its meaning. This film could have been something a bit more, if it in itself knew what it was.