Oliver Matheson’s review published on Letterboxd:
"You can't change the world"
More than most films I’m very glad that something like this exists in the world. Even though I didn’t love it, knowing that this film is out there is a comforting thought.
A Hidden Life is a moral tale, filled with some of the most beautiful nature cinematography you’ll ever see. With gorgeous views and unpredictable camerawork Malick does what he does best here, and the last 30 minutes are like nothing I have ever seen before.
I like how Malick handles the overall film, but I don’t like how that translates into the dialogue scenes. Every conversation starts in one part of a setting, and then before the other person could respond the scene would cut to another area, where the characters would resume speaking. This conjured up too many bad memories of Song to Song and I inevitably imagine the characters silently drifting around the room in between sentences. There were many instances were that took me right out of the film, prompting the idea that the people onscreen were not so much characters in a film as they were actors following Malick’s direction.
Despite its quirks and slow pace, the power and beauty of the film kept drawing me in, especially because the central tension and question of the film was so difficult and worth pondering. Telling the story of hidden lives is one of film’s highest callings, and to have Malick deliver one in a package like this is a gift to us all.