I think the way you view this movie depends on who you relate to most. Are you a Margot, a Lou, or a Daniel? I believe a lot of women who see themselves as a Margot... potentially stuck and somewhat unfulfilled... will be all "you go, girl," applaud Margot as a hero, and love this film. Similarly, the men who are Daniels, will revel in his smoothness and his ultimate victory (but did he really win?). Those of us who feel like we've been Lou... will view this as sad, unfair, and needlessly brutal, and the movie won't resonate as well.
I've seen some reviewers call this "SO real." Is it? Would Margot's "fear of being afraid" and fear of "in betweens" REALLY drive her to leave a safe and seemingly happy life and marriage to explore something so potentially unstable and non-viable? The film doesn't give us nearly enough desperation and unsatisfaction to merit such a radical move. Nor do her weeks of non-contact flirtations with an artist / rickshaw driver appear life-altering enough to cause her to implode her world. She seems genuinely happy and content with a nice guy who loves her. Was her existence really that unfixable that she, as someone so timid and insecure, would blow it all up for lust and a pretty face? There's no background to suggest this, so it seems far from "so real" to me. Is her move, which takes her through passion, into threesomes, and then ultimately into what appears to be sadness and melancholy (only now with a far less stable partner) really what someone like her would do? And how long will Daniel accept her cloying neediness before he moves on to something else, leaving her again "in between?" So, I find the overarching story and premise a bit unbelievable.
Selfish people with bizarre dialogue, desires, and needs... presumed happiness that devolves too quickly to abject misery thanks to an absurdly chance encounter, and a "nice" life butchered for an unclear future... make this all a bit hard to accept. On merit, it's a "5" for me, but I bumped it to a "6" because I love Michelle Williams, and she's wonderful here.
I've seen some reviewers call this "SO real." Is it? Would Margot's "fear of being afraid" and fear of "in betweens" REALLY drive her to leave a safe and seemingly happy life and marriage to explore something so potentially unstable and non-viable? The film doesn't give us nearly enough desperation and unsatisfaction to merit such a radical move. Nor do her weeks of non-contact flirtations with an artist / rickshaw driver appear life-altering enough to cause her to implode her world. She seems genuinely happy and content with a nice guy who loves her. Was her existence really that unfixable that she, as someone so timid and insecure, would blow it all up for lust and a pretty face? There's no background to suggest this, so it seems far from "so real" to me. Is her move, which takes her through passion, into threesomes, and then ultimately into what appears to be sadness and melancholy (only now with a far less stable partner) really what someone like her would do? And how long will Daniel accept her cloying neediness before he moves on to something else, leaving her again "in between?" So, I find the overarching story and premise a bit unbelievable.
Selfish people with bizarre dialogue, desires, and needs... presumed happiness that devolves too quickly to abject misery thanks to an absurdly chance encounter, and a "nice" life butchered for an unclear future... make this all a bit hard to accept. On merit, it's a "5" for me, but I bumped it to a "6" because I love Michelle Williams, and she's wonderful here.