gizmomogwai Bring Denis Villeneuve back to Canada! Maelstrom is an early effort from the director who brought us Incendies (2010) and Arrival (2016), and a surprisingly strong one. This is from a director who's been hit and miss for me; Polytechnique and Sicario were overly dry, while Enemy was enormously derivative. Maelstrom is obviously a film with a unique vision, told by a dying fish. We have an abortion, which will enrage some of the audience, but playing Good Morning Starshine next as she leaves sets a humourous, ironic tone. Much of this tone prevails; while I was expecting something darker like Incendies, a colourful, unique tone runs throughout Maelstrom. After learning she accidentally kills a man with a vehicle, she confides in a stranger who tells her what's done is done; later, the son of the man falls in love with her, and in a quirk of fate, he confides in the same stranger who tells her what's done is done. Maelstrom is the kind of movie that's more than a movie; it's an experience like no other.

SnoopyStyle A creepy fish being chopped up by a bloody butcher tells the story of 25 year old Bibiane Champagne (Marie-Josée Croze). She owns clothing boutiques and just got an abortion. She is struggling in her life and then kills fishmonger Annstein Karson in a hit and run accident. Reporter Marie-Jeanne Sirois interviews her about being a daughter of celebrity Flo Fabert. Suffering from the guilt, she drives her car off the pier. She encounters Annstein's son Evian at the funeral home and pretends to be Annstein's neighbor.On the good side, the surrealism is memorable. The crumbling of Bibiane is palpable. Croze is terrific. On the other hand, the movie is a bit confused. The flow of the story is a bit disjointed. Nevertherless, there is an edginess and originality in Denis Villeneuve's vision.

valis1949 MAELSTROM labored far too hard be unconventional, yet Denis Villeneuve(director) did demonstrate the possibility for a very interesting film. Guilt due to an abortion which is exacerbated by a hit and run incident communicates a compelling narrative, but why introduce...a talking fish??? Sure, one could make a case for a 'talking fish', but how about a 'laughing typewriter', or an 'all knowing piece of cheese'. You just can't introduce something so outré without explanation, or you cross the line into extreme pretension. Of course, the 'talking fish' might represent Fertility, yet 'a laughing typewriter' could also indicate a playful creator, or 'an all knowing piece of cheese' could represent all of the above. If you want to get weird, the weird can turn pro. MAELSTROM had a fine cast, but the script failed to blend the ham-fisted element of 'the fishy fable' with the story's inherent dramatic subject matter, and in the end, the film aborted

boffoscribe I saw this film at Sundance and it was the best film I saw there by far.Marie-Josée Croze is a French-speaking long-lost sexy little sister of Maura Tierney (for all you casting directors out there). The first scene of the movie is likely to shock 95% of viewers, but if they can get past it this twisted caper is not only worth seeing at the theater/theatre/cinema, but a good candidate for DVD collections. RIYL: Delicatessen, Insomnia, David Lynch.