Review of Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) by Everett — 25 Jul 2015

I was so disappointed, after the good reviews, and I'm a longtime Binoche fan. The suggestion that when males create female characters' sexual attraction to each other, they're often just "male fantasies," is brought up in the movie (re: the deceased playwright's play).

But I think this a valid criticism of the movie too. Neither of these women, nor their relationship, felt real. I cared about no one in this film. Stilted, on-the-nose dialogue (both in the "play readings" by the women, and in the movie itself) didn't help, and the "play within a play" highlighted this fatal flaw instead of adding the intriguing layer that the filmmaker was going for.

And the "Jo-Ann" character was flimsy and cliched. All in all, this film sacrificed depth and credibility to overblown pretentiousness. It's been compared to "All About Eve." No.

The people in that movie were real. In this one, only the clouds felt real. So many clouds ...