Synopsis
As we follow a mother and her son, 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 and a peculiar falconer who bears the marks of a double absence. In the present, a young journalist 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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Cast
- Jennifer ConnellyNana Kunning
- Cillian MurphyIvan
- Mélanie LaurentJannia Ressmore
- William ShimellNewman
- Zen McGrathYoung Ivan
- Peter McRobbieIke
- Winta McGrathGully
- Nancy DrakeOld Woman
- Judy CookAirplane Receptionist
- Carson NattrassOfficer
Recommendations
- 58
The Playlist
Aloft and its icy landscapes and feel of gently dropping barometric pressure can only distract so far from what is essentially an overwrought melodrama that here and there tips over into heavy-handedness despite the restrained beauty of its images. - 50
Variety
In the end, everything fits together rather ingeniously, though it’s clear that in orchestrating her needlessly complicated nonlinear narrative, Llosa has mistaken confusion for suspense. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
Strip away its gorgeous wintry landscapes and we are left with a symphony of ponderous New Age mumbo-jumbo masquerading as philosophical wisdom. - 40
Village Voice
The writer-director's ideas about our connection to the land and the many other animals roaming it may well be profound, but they're buried under layers of superfluous storytelling devices. A better title would have been Adrift. - 38
Slant Magazine
The film's images, so continually heartrending so as to never become redundant, effectively function as visual proselytizing. - 38
Movie Nation
The falcon metaphor is clumsy and ill-defined, and Aloft is never much more than a lovely, dull cheat. - 38
New York Post
Aloft is less like a story than a dream, populated with gorgeous people and symbolism you can interpret any way you like. - 33
The A.V. Club
What’s really been withheld, in this dreary drag of a movie, is a reason to care.
