Stalker

Oh, this is actually one of the best movies that's ever been created.  I'll start with the short list of the bad, which consists of three things. The biggest legitimate flaw in this movie is that the sound is kinda trash at times. There's some distracting ADR at times, even as someone who doesn't speak any Russian and the sound effects library used to create this movie is noticably underfunded, with some sound effects being used too often, and the sound effect of a car stopping being flat out wrong for the speed of the car. Outside of the issues with the sound, the only other two issues that I can think to criticize the movie on are preferential: it can be a bit preachy at times, which is kind of the point in a way; and it's incredibly slow and hard to stay invested in if you have a short or even normal attention span. As I don't find those last two things to be a big issue, I feel like I can move on to the positives. So what was so great about this movie? The answer is everything else. It's one of the best shot movies I've ever seen in my life, and there's no way I can think to emphasize it more than that, it's so well acted that I was occasionally brought to the brink of tears, the set design and lighting are all top notch and I can honestly and fully believe in every single thing that the world contains, the costumes, makeup, and hair were all perfect, always feeling incredibly natural and true to the characters, and the writing is smart, funny, aware, and, most centrally to the point of the movie, incredibly intelligent in it's assessment of human nature. Without getting too into the actual details or ruining the experience, watching this movie a second time offered a lot of interesting ideas. Which brings me to my favorite part of the movie: the themes. This movie is fantastic, if a little slow, on its own, but with the themes and potential allegory built into it, it becomes something far greater than most any other film I've seen. It almost stranscends film, turning into a deep and poiniant analysis of the human condition.  I realize that any review that reads like the one I just wrote kind of turns into elitist nonsense, so I'll just leave it at this: please go give this movie a chance. If you've got the patience for a slow Russian movie, then it's absolutely worth your time.  TL;DR - Kids these days don't believe in anything!