Review: The World to Come

"It' s a good thing we remember our imaginations can always be cultivated."

"The World to Come" is a mid-19th century drama starring Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston, directed by Mona Fastvold. The story follows Abigail (Katherine Waterston) and her husband Dyer (Casey Affleck) as well as their neighbors Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) and Finney (Christopher Abbott). I was lucky enough to see this movie at the Vienna International Film Festival before its release in cinemas and went in knowing nothing about it.

Edit (15.01.2021): Now that a trailer is released I revised the review based on what is seen in the trailer. I see now that it is not a spoiler to talk about the relationship that evolves throughout.

Disclaimer: this review was written two months after I saw the movie (cause I'm lazy). Because it was dark and I didn't see my notebook I didn't write down everything I thought, so I might be coming back to update the review after watching it again, but for now this is how I remember it

The movie starts off with some great wide shots, introducing the viewer to the scenery and characters. These shots are super slow and give the impression that the movie is going to be very slow-burn, which is the case for a good fourth of the movie. Since the scenery is quite empty and nothing catches your eye the picture looks rather uneventful and boring. However, the way in which the scenery and weather is captured manages to make you feel uncomfortable and transfers the isolation really well. This reminded me a lot of "The Lighthouse" because you are waiting for something to happen and all you see is the is isolation and horrible weather. This makes you understand the desire for warmth and close relationships even more. Anyhow, the era is captured really well and as soon as you get used to it, the movie gets better (which might be a coincidence). It's interesting to see how our daily life has changed from back then. There wasn't much to do for a woman: just chores and farm work. The production design and locations, while rather simple, still provide the right feel. As for the costume design, I'm not a professional, but they seem accurate and complete the whole picture and feel.

As for the writing, there are lots of voice overs by the protagonist (Katherine Waterston) trying to make you connect to her character, which eventually works out. I don't think that, the voice overs are what makes you feel for her though, they do give you a sense of her person. I found myself really caring about Abigail and the relationship that evolved between her and Tallie. The secrecy around the newfound friend- and relationship brings some excitement to the story and from there on the plot speeds up. While the story felt quite predictable at times, I was still excited to see what happens. The dialogue is very well written, especially the choice of words really stands out and is in my opinion one of the main reasons why the movie stays exciting and keeps you invested. Every scene between Tallie and Abigail makes you feel something. Their chemistry on screen is great and their interactions convey excitement, desire and warmth, which really carries the scenes.

The acting and dialogues are really the selling point of this movie. While I don't like Casey Affleck, his performance is solid. The outstanding performances, however, are the ones by Katherine Waterston and especially Vanessa Kirby. Both transferring so many emotions and delivering well-layered and all-rounded performances, they are the reason you keep watching and root for them until the end.

On top of the great acting and the beautiful dialogue, the music gives the movie a unique touch. The score by Daniel Blumberg accompanies the story and setting in such a beautiful way. The melodies are mainly carried by a clarinet, played by Blumberg himself. With the soft sound of the clarinet, the score expresses the happiness and joy as well as the isolation and sadness of the story and rounds up the plot perfectly.

All in all, while the movie struggles in the first part, as soon as I got accustomed to the scenery and story, I was really invested in the story and cared for the characters. The acting, the dialogue and the music are in fact the best aspects of this movie and the main reasons why it works. However, I can see that "The World to Come" will not be everyone's cup of tea, but it definitely was mine.

Observations & (Fun) Facts

Katherine Waterston looks like the German actress Josefine Preuß

"The World to Come"'s current IMDb score is a 6,7 but has a 89 Metascore, meaning critics definitely liked it more than "normal audiences". Since I gave it an 8/10, does that mean I'm a critic now?

I feel like the movie is a mixture of "The Lighthouse" and "Carol", so I would say if you like either of those movies, you will probably like this one too

some of the quotes I liked:

• "I have become my grief"
• "You were my city of joy"