High Life

This is Claire Denis’ English language debut, and it very much suffers from being made in English by a director whose first language is not English. It’s a very measured, slowly paced space saga as the sole survivors in a prison ship, a man and his daughter, head slowly towards a black hole – and remember the circumstances that led them to becoming the sole survivors. There are certainly elements here which could, in other hands, be interesting – power games between desperate people, and the unexpected bonds that form in those circumstances – but this never really gets there. The non-sequential narrative, rather than building intrigue in what’s been skipped over, instead just feels like scenes have been jumbled. Juliet Binoche seems somewhat lost in in a role that plays to none of her strengths. Robert Pattinson as the lead has some decent moments here and there (and he gets a chance to sing over the closing credits, which is strangely touching), but all in all this is not a film I enjoyed or was particularly interested in.