Incendies

i’m speechless. just…wow. this was jarring and horrifying in ways i didn’t even know were possible. every time i thought “oh my god what the fuck” things somehow got even crazier. just again and again, crazy plot developments which kept on adding to the depth of nawal’s character and the marwan family history until the big picture was almost too haunting to comprehend; but the film also never crosses the line into absurdity and always feels horrifyingly real. this is storytelling at its absolute finest: every detail and piece of information revealed at the perfect moment, in the perfect way. and the film was beautifully executed with flawless acting and directing which made me feel every emotion deep in my gut. the big twist shook me to the core. “one plus one equals…one” and that gasp, my god; then you follow it up with the scene at the pool and later the reading of the letters and the entire ending is absolutely brilliant…i hate it. this might be denis villeneuve’s masterpiece — the peak of his ability to portray human depth — and that’s staying a lot given the way i absolutely adore his filmography. he’s officially the GOAT, no doubt about it.