I'm going to get this out of the way right off the bat. Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is definitely not a film for everyone. It never makes a whole lot of sense to the mind, but it makes sense to the soul. The first 30 minutes and last 20 are a symphony of seemingly unrelated images, the part in-between follows the life of one American family in the 50's , focusing mainly on a mother (Jessica Chastain), a father (Brad Pitt), and one of their sons (when young played by Hunter McCacken, when an adult played by Sean Penn although he barely appears in this film) who goes through a worldly crisis as he tries to make sense of this world, who he is, and how he fits into it all. It's a moving story, but it can be downright tough to sit through and is hair-rippingly impossible to make much sense of. It really feels like you are going through the womb when you watch this film, it's unique, different, startling and unsetlling but is brilliant nontheless.
All the actors do a great job here, no surprise there. I can't help but wonder how Brad Pitt and Sean Penn got wrapped up in this film though, they don't seem the types to appear in a film such as this but their prescense strengthens the film overall.
If you're not religious there is a good chance that you will not enjoy this film, there is a constant undertone of religious themes in this film, and at times it can be somewhat off-putting even to a christian such as myself. The film also has long periods of music, silence, and bits of voice over narration synced to beautiful but almost detached images that don't really seem connected.
The Tree of Life is a very different film, but it is a masterpiece nontheless, and if you can find a way to sit through the first 30 minutes without fidgeting then I salute you. I wouldn't reccommend it to everyone, but it still is worth a hesitant viewing if you're curious about it like I was.
4/5 stars
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