User reviews

As many have stated, this isn't your average film. However that's not always a good thing. It jumps all over, never explains enough, and that's the cliche... Like I said, if you're easily amused (take no offense to that I'm envious of you people) then you'll most likely enjoy it, and think it's the modern day inception. But if you like a little substance / depth to your movies then you're going to be disappointed. If you've ever seen the movie Momento then this is very similair. Except, if you like Momento (amazing movie) you'll hate this. Momento was a non-linear store with a digestible plot. The plot of this movie however is non-existent. And tricks many viewers into thinking it's deep & mysterious. When in reality it's just a poorly made film.

By chance, I watched this the same day I saw Jim Jarmusch's Paterson. Both are similar, but both fail for completely different reasons.

Bottom of the World does not know what it wants to be. It tells a non- linear story that gives itself away about 40 minutes into the film. After that, it follows a predictable path of key symbols to clue the viewer in to what is actually happening. It should have gone a completely different route and stuck with the bizarre, weird, sleazy feel it had at the beginning. It turns into a very underwhelming second half as it drifts away and fades into the same trap many other similar movies fall into. It tries too hard to pull a complicated story together in a very silly way.

The pace and acting are appropriate and the director does a good job with atmosphere and mood, but it falls flat overall.

This is a movie that offers an assortment of David Lynch trademarks, in service of a story that's all surface and has none of the pervasive worldview - the perspective - of a David Lynch film. It reads as homage, I guess, but aside from the flattery of imitation it has nothing to offer.

Elements of Lost Highway, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart are pretty obvious. There's even a lamp with a red shade.

I guess if, like the filmmakers, you enjoy Lynch and have no idea why, you might like this. But if you like substance with your knockoff style, move along.

I kind of liked 'Bottom of the World'. I make no bones about the fact I'm a fan of the 'mystery' genre, and this film certainly had an element of mystery to it. It's a film where the audience knows as little about what's going on as the characters (if not even less at times), yet there are constant hints as to the direction our thinking should be going in. Then a nice little ending was the icing on the cake.

The whole "nothing makes sense, what is going on?" thing has been done in movies thousands of times over the years, but it always seems to work. I think in a way, much like a magic show, the audience wants to be fooled, or at least in a state of curiosity. It can also be quite easy for film makers to pull off, because the usual linear film making techniques obviously go out the window, and thus it can be harder for an audience to judge what is actually good and what is not.

Some people on the other hand will always hate this type of film and that's fine. I see 'Bottom of the World' being a very polarising film. Some will have a great time with it, while others will utterly despise it. I was in the former camp.

Like another reviewer said it's not for everyone. He couldn't be more right. It's not for everyone, especially not for me. I love mysteries that you have to try to solve before the end of the movie. But here it isn't a mystery. Or maybe it is but I honestly couldn't be bothered knowing what it is. The beginning is promising but then it's all going downhill. The story doesn't make much sense, and maybe for somebody that like to think a lot when he's watching a movie it does make sense. I'm not one of those. I like stories with a beginning, a middle and an end, easy stories to follow. Movies like this one are just a waste of time and money to me. The actors are not bad, the story is though. There is not much more to say about Bottom Of The World.

I'm not sure what this film is trying to be or what it is trying to say. It's weird but it lingers in purgatory.

Easily one of the strangest and most confusing films I've ever seen, Bottom of the World. is also a captivating and intriguing film. Most people will probably hate it, but for some reason I was fascinated by it...some scenes are very suspenseful and creepy, others are wonderfully strange and surreal. Also seems to be a religious angle to the film as it deals with sin guilt, redemption and purgatory. Far out.

This is a pretentious and obscure movie. I didn't really get the plot of the ending. Don't misjudge me, I'm a big fan of thrillers and horror, bit this piece wasn't for me. I wouldn't recomend it to anyone else as plain as me.

So here we have of what I think was an attempt to make a cult type film.

But what we end up with after watching only 40 mins of Bottom Of The World is the bottom of the IMDb ratings for another mess.

There may have been some potential here, but the girl was just annoying as the flashbacks that didn't make any sense.

Then this shady character who needs a new ski mask and some vocal coaching shows up and then it went even more downhill from there.

I'm guessing this was a religious type film from the constant church crosses and preacher on the TV all the time (I was begging for the actors to change the channel he was so annoying, but no success).

Seriously, don't waste your time... I couldn't get past the desert scene (approx 30-40 mins in?) before I said "enough of this garbage".

The blurb for this film is interesting; apparently it is "a dark, hypnotic mystery that transcends the limitations of traditional narrative."

My opinion is slightly different and can be summed up in two words;

Pretentious Pish.

Here we have a film attempting the idea of alternate realities. It fails miserably. It was odd enough to keep my attention, but it lacks any type of substance. The story is two dimensional and there is no real plot to speak of. All the elements are here but there was nothing to bring it all together. It's disjointed and just makes no sense.

I had such high hopes for this film after seeing it pop up in my recommendations. It starts well and has an intense vibe with a sense of mystery and dark foreboding, but actually in the end turns out to be a rather boring attempt at psychological thriller. It wasn't totally unwatchable and the acting itself was not bad but there was so much more potential they could have used for this film.

I was a little bit skeptical going in, but thought it might be worth a watch just to see Jena Malone do her thing here.

More than a bit surprised, this was a clever puzzle wrapped in an enigma that requires more than a bit of attention paid to subtle details sprinkled into what seems to be a jagged form of editing, but is remarkably well resolved in the end. Jena definitely delivers what may be her best character study yet, but that's not to take away from Douglas Smith, who did an equally plausible job portraying a young guy caught up in a seemingly impossible situation.

I simply can't reveal what that "seemingly impossible situation" actually is, in that would be an obvious spoiler, but to discover just how far out that resolution is, you're just going to have to watch for yourself. Trust me on this one, it's worth the wait to find out.

Along the way in this uniquely twisted adventure are all sorts of quirky characters, which at first glance might seem to be absurdly overdone cliché' character concept representations, until the actual context becomes more apparent. Then it all begins to make sense . . . sort of . . . until the very end.

For some, this might take a bit of patience. There are moments which seem bizarrely out of context, or just don't seem to fit into what appears to be the story of the moment. But that's the key here. Time can be a fluid medium, depending on where one might happen to be in a yet to be fully defined version of reality.

Having said that, there were some clumsy moments where the editing definitely could have fit together better, or scenes that appear to be more than a bit rough around the edges, but the given the uniquely original story and how it's told, a certain amount of forgiveness can be granted for such imperfections.

Maybe not the best, but certainly not the worst of such attempts at this sort of genre'.

A solid seven stars for me . . .

Wasting of time 😏😏 Wasting of time Wasting of time.

This movie is artistic, confusing, and trippy. If you like strange/complex it is a most creative film. It might be confusing at some parts but that just made it better. Movies today don't put responsibility on the viewer to figure out what is going on and this film does that. Not only that but the Scarlett character is amazing and devastating all at once. Acting is done very well, Jena Malone was great in her role of Scarlet and Ted Levine did a decent job with his character too. Direction is top notch and I will definitely check other movies done by this director. Overall this movie was a joy ride for me and I give it a well deserved 8 star rating.

"Wayne was doing really weird things with his eyeballs. Wayne's dad was a Marine. It turns out he was doing Morse code with his eyes. He was saying, "SOS, SOS, SOS, SOS., over and over and over."

Perhaps I'm a weird personality. That's the reason why I really enjoy movies like "Bottom of the World". Contrarious, difficult to understand, confusing and slightly disturbing. As the denouement kicked in and the inextricable story became a little bit clearer, I was totally stunned. It was undeniably clear to me that I wanted to watch this weird movie again one day. Only to discover other clues. Clues that escaped me. I fully realize that most people who saw this movie, won't like it at all. Many will see it as a waste of time. A meaningless, dumb film with an incomprehensible story-line.

To be honest, I had that same feeling after the first 15 minutes. We see Scarlett (Jena Malone) and Alex (Douglas Smith) cruising across the US. Two youngsters in an old, American car, on their way to L.A. and enduring the scorching heat of the desert. Where do they actually come from? What goal are they aiming for? And where are they exactly? I had no idea. They decide to spend the night in a strange looking hotel, with an impressive and magical looking lobby, while the part where the guestrooms are situated, resembles that of a cheap motel. And then one absurd fact follows after another. A local television channel with a pseudo preacher (Ted Levine) proclaiming religious messages. A weirdo who observes their room at night. And then Scarlett seems unable to leave town without feeling as if her head explodes. And finally she disappears.

And then there's even bigger confusion when Alex wakes up in a seemingly different life as a married, well earning husband. Even more weird. The woman living next door is Scarlett. From here on, the story lines seem to twist around another like cooked spaghetti and there are several facts that refer to what's real. I'm not such a big fan of films full of symbolism and metaphysical states. The makers tried to find a proper balance between reality and a sort of dream phase. In the end I was wondering which personage actually exists and which personage originated from a subconscious mind. I assume that everything has to do with a guilt feelings caused by an unacceptable act from the past. (Think this is a hazy description? Well that's intentionally.)

Jena Malone is no Scarlett Johansson, but in a way she succeeded in looking sensual and seductive. On the other hand, she also appears to have perverse traits and you start to question her mental health. The story she tells about her nephew and the way she treated him, isn't something a mentally healthy person could come up with. Even if its purpose was just to shock Alex. Personally, I thought Douglas Smith acted rather soft and absent. And wasn't he a bit too young to be a married guy? At first I thought it was his mother in the kitchen. All in all, a fascinating film that leaves you behind with more questions than answers.

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