Disobedience (2017)

There's no doubt that Disobedience attempts to tell an important story about growing up gay in a fundamentalist religious community and the lasting impact such an experience could have on someone. But as much as I'd like to sing its praises for tackling the subject matter, the execution sadly just isn't there.

This is an incredibly self-serious film, which isn't a problem in of itself should it have contained the level of substance and drama to match that tone. Instead, Disobedience repeatedly offers up melodrama and clichés more befitting of a Lifetime movie, right down to a scene where one of the leads frantically chases after the other as she departs in a taxi. There's nothing inherently wrong with melodrama, but the problem is that the film has no self-awareness. These stiff, wooden, cheesy moments are presented as if this were an Oscar-worthy feature without any of the necessary depth or nuance in the screenplay to be on such a level.

Though Weisz and McAdams are talented actors who give the material their best effort, it's for naught as their roles are severely lacking in basic characterization - you can boil them down to "the defiant, rebellious one" and "the timid, repressed one" and you've basically got it covered. And there's barely any thematic exploration beyond the very surface-level notions of repression being negative, acceptance being positive, and the basic clash between fundamentalism and the modern era. The film drags on with very little in the way of plot or intrigue once the premise has been set up, and the overly serious tone becomes more and more suffocating as it plods along. It has a somewhat grating score as well that does not fit the material very well - lush. alternately melancholic and hopeful orchestration that reaches for a grandeur that the movie itself just doesn't justify.

I'm sad to have had such a negative reaction as I really would've loved to see a great film about this subject. Unfortunately, this is really nothing more than a glorified Hallmark movie. At least they tried, I guess.

Strong 1.5/5

Fmovies: I really wanted to love this movie. Some parts I enjoyed but was repeatedly taken out of the narrative by filmmaker choices.

The editing left much to be desired-scenes are awkwardly edited where you can see it's a different take of the same scene. Many of the edits simply appeared ham-handed and amateur.

Continuity also seems an issue; the progress of the story is chunked out, like skipping around chapters in a book. The screenplay lacks the dialog which would convey the depth of the story and it's characters.

The actors are quite good but not able to fill all the missing bits of good filmmaking. The score was musically fine but seems to have been written for a different movie. The pacing too, is slow and awkward like much of this film.

The Rachels handled what little they had to work with well. The sex scene was interesting and respectfully shot but again, the editing sucked all the life out of this love story.

Though I think this film was a missed opportunity, the potential for a well-written and directed sequel could fix what didn't work in this outing.

I really wanted to like it but kinda didn't.

This is an extraordinarily exquisite film. From the script to the execution it is a complex, daring, bold, and vulnerable portrait of the inside of the human soul. A must see.

Disobedience fmovies. Disobedience is a compelling understated drama that seethes with passion thanks to Sebastian Lelio's assured direction, compelling storytelling and fantastic performances from the three talented leads.

It's a sad fact too and I'm sorry for laughing about it. I'm imperfect just as you are. Some people perhaps were too offended, others just too interested and overinvolved in the lesbian aspect or a certain moral value or political slant blinded them. Whatever the case. So far this is DEFINITLY the best film I've seen from 2017. If you need to know, no, I'm not gay, I didn't even feel that the gay issue in the film was of any large significance.

I thought the acting, story and direction were superb. I'm really surprised more people have not found this film to be as fantastic as I did. The current IMDb rating of 6.6 seems extremely low to me. Many critics loved it, as did I. Disobedience I suppose is not a film for everyone. Overthinking can easily get in the way of this one. Just sit back and watch this subtle and beautiful film and think about it later. As the Buddha is often credited with saying, "Think less, observe more.".

I'm pretty sure many people got so offended by certain things in the film that they missed nearly all of the rich and beautiful depth that this film actually has. Sometimes the most clever truths are not so obvious, especially to the distracted mind. Scientists at this point have actually even proven the very narrow focus of the average human mind.

In my view most of the greatest pieces of art in history are the pieces that challenge the way you/we look at things. This is definitely that kind of film. This is not just another piece of entertainment like much of the regurgitated and/or meaningless trash movies of our day. This truly is a beautiful piece of art; And to those of you who watched it and missed this fact...too bad for you. More than anything else, this film is about human choice, and sadly for many, that is a very scary subject. Far too scary for some to honestly deal with. May we All hope for a today filled with greater clarity. For those of you that thought this film was good, but not that good, I challenge you to watch it again without overthinking it while watching it. Shhh...just watch and listen. 8.5/10

While the movie is very slow paced, the story is a beautiful one! The two actresses are brilliant on their own, and shine together in this film. Worth a watch for any lover of cinema.