Aloft (2014)

A struggling mother encounters the son she abandoned 20 years earlier.

Director:

Claudia Llosa

Writer:

Claudia Llosa

Stars:

Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Mélanie Laurent

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jennifer Connelly	...	Nana Kunning
Cillian Murphy	...	Ivan
Mélanie Laurent	...	Jannia Ressmore
William Shimell	...	Newman
Peter McRobbie	...	Ike
Andy Murray	...	Lance
Ian Tracey	...	Hans
Oona Chaplin	...	Alice
Winta McGrath	...	Gully
Zen McGrath	...	Young Ivan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Judy Cook	...	Airplane Receptionist
Nancy Drake	...	Old Woman
Allan Wallace Dunkeld	...	Boy at Hotel
Cam Gates	...	Volunteer
Erika Marxx	...	Woman 3

Storyline

As we follow a mother (Jennifer Connelly) and her son (Cillian Murphy), we delve into a past marred by an accident that tears them apart. She will become a renowned artist and healer, and he will grow into his own as a peculiar falconer who bears the marks of a double absence. In the present, a young journalist (Mélanie Laurent) will bring about an encounter between the two that puts the very meaning of life and art into question, so that we may contemplate the possibility of living life to its fullest, despite the uncertainties littering our paths.

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Plot Keywords:

troubled marriage | arctic | falcon | dysfunctional family | canada | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene of Jenia and Ivan walking across the frozen lake at night were filmed on an actual frozen lake and at night. Director Claudia Llosa had great difficulty to get the go ahead for the night time shoot on the lake because it was deemed too dangerous.

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Quotes

Nana Kunning: Ivan's strong. He can handle it.
Ike: You think you know everything. He's just a boy.

User Reviews

What the heck did I just watch?

An hour and a half into the movie and I am still not entirely sure what is happening. Seriously what the heck am I watching? Terrible movie. Jumps back and forth between the past and future at unrelated points in the story. Dialog is boring. Hard to follow what is going on. Character development is non-existent. The mother discovers she is a mystic healer. The son keeps and trains and keeps predator birds (falcons specifically). The execution of the premise is even more weird and poorly executed than it sounds. This is a really poorly developed story that never should have been made into a movie. Through its entirety the viewer is subjected to bad writing (no range in vocabulary) with a plot that never really happens. The attempt is to masquerade as some deep art piece. It fails. Film was just a crap indie film or a B-Role movie intended to go straight to RedBox. And even it that low bar to shoot for, if the directors hadn't scored Jennifer Connelly in the lead role it wouldn't have even attracted viewership in that subprime outlet. This movie totally relies on viewer recognizing the star on the DVD cover to entice giving the movie a chance. Its not worth the buck you feed into a Redbox machine to rent it. AVOID and spend the hour and a half of your like doing something more worthwhile like try watching paint dry.

Details

Country:

Spain Canada France

Language:

English French

Release Date:

23 January 2015 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Aloft

Filming Locations:

Manitoba, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,116, 24 May 2015

Gross USA:

$53,086

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$270,971

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wanda Visión S.A., Arcadia Motion Pictures, Buffalo Gal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 97 min (dvd)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1