Josh:
This is a really well-made and beautifully acted movie and it’s kind of hypnotic, visually, with its sun-drenched present tense and ephemeral flashes forward, and I know everyone loves it, but I have mixed feelings about it, like it’s more of a mood than a story, and almost too elliptical to really cut as deeply as one might expect, and I’m ashamed to admit I did doze off briefly (I really miss seeing movies like this in a theater), and honestly, I didn’t feel much of an emotional connection to its future Sophie, as she’s barely there, though the movie does wrap up strongly, and it feels lonely not absolutely adoring this, so I’m rounding up to 4 rather than down to 3. ⏰⏰⏰⏰
Steph:
This is an emotionally powerful coming-of-age film that made me feel like I had a lump in my throat the whole time, and it’s so gorgeously shot—who thought watching a Polaroid develop could add such depth to a scene—that I occasionally felt overwhelmed by its beauty and craved a more conventional narrative, but by the end, with that final shot, the film’s deliberately slow unraveling hit me hard—and I found myself staring at the swinging doors like, fuck. ⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰
The Bare Minimum 