It always feels like a cheap way out to complain about the length of a film but it is something that frequently causes me problems. In the case of Mommy it's not so much the length but the fact that the longer things go on the more diluted the brilliance becomes. There's an intensity not only in the performances but also the characters which is only heightened by the 1:1 aspect ratio. That shooting style never feels like a gimmick and forces a concentration and focus in the opposite way of something like the vastness of Lawrence of Arabia create an epic moment. It also feels fresh in cinema but reflective of the instagram age and works so well with the story. Even more effective is the standout moment (unfortunately I knew it was coming) which raised the hairs on the back of my neck and feels so revolutionary but also so simple.
Had the film finished on what would have been a perfect (ambiguous?) ending, reprising the earlier cinematic magic trick, I'd have been a lot more forgiving of some of the dilution that occurred earlier. Unfortunately there felt like very little was added in those final scenes apart from a suggestion of a previously unrealised depth to the relationship between neighbours.
April 12, 2015 at 11:33PM
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