Synopsis
In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.
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Cast
- Matthew McConaugheyArthur Brennan
- Naomi WattsJoan Brennan
- Ken WatanabeTakumi Nakamura
- Ryoko SetaAirport Desk Agent
- Sienna TowGirl in Airport
- Naoko MarshallFlight Attendant
- Michiko TomuraWoman on Train
- Yusuke TozawaMan on Train
- Abe Lee TsunenoriTaxi Driver
- Joe GirardMan at Convenience Store
Recommendations
- 50
Hitfix
The resulting film is yet another example of a Black List script that does not work on the screen. And, frankly, we're not sure an auteur other than Van Sant would have fared any better. - 40
CineVue
It has to be said that Van Sant is not above doing one for the studio but quite what sins he had committed to be made to make this pile of sub-Nicolas Sparks tripe will be beyond most. - 40
Screen Daily
As all the dots join in a pattern that strives for deeper meaning, the just too-damned-cute Sea of Trees becomes undone by a surfeit of contrived ingenuity. - 40
The Telegraph
Van Sant wanted to study a man drowning in sorrow and guide him towards the light. But the guidance he gets is fake, forced, and unbearably tricksy, a kind of suicide rehab with gotcha devices. - 30
The Hollywood Reporter
Gus Van Sant’s sticky, gooey side — previously on display in the likes of Finding Forrester and especially in the 2011 Restless — oozes out once more in the woefully sentimental and maudlin The Sea of Trees. - 25
IndieWire
Not even Matthew McConaughey can sustain the mushy, amateurish story, which digs itself a deeper hole as it moves along. The established talents of both director and star only serve to magnify the many wrong moves that this stunning misfire takes. - 25
Slant Magazine
There's little here to suggest that the film is anything more than a hastily cobbled-together studio star vehicle. - 20
The Guardian
For all its apparent sombreness and thoughtfulness, The Sea Of Trees is an exasperatingly shallow film on an important and agonisingly painful subject - depression and suicide. This it slathers in palliative sentimentality.
