White Bird in a Blizzard

In the beginning, this movie looks like a routine drama with the usually zany Eva Green. In the end, however, the story does a 180 degree turn, which puts it into a completely new dimension. What I originally rated as a three-star movie gained one more star from me and won me over. Eva Green stayed great as always. I was also pleasantly surprised by Shailene Woodley, who showed a lot, which wasn’t detrimental to the film; on the contrary, it fit well with its 1980s atmosphere, which is also enhanced by music. (21.11.2014)

An indie relationship film with just the right balance of coming-of-age drama, crime thriller and teen comedy. Shailene Woodley is superb. Plus for the filmmakers' efforts to present the teenage fable as realistically as possible, including slightly more explicit scenes with sexual overtones, where a lot is implied but just enough is shown. The ending is passable, but predictable. A small, low-key film that's dense and suspenseful enough for one viewing, but not for a second – there's nothing more to discover. (27.04.2022)

At first (and very possibly at second) glance, this is an understated film, which, thanks to its criminal plot, makes the viewer follow it to the end. Eva Green takes on the role of an unhappy and disappointed woman in a convincing way, wonderfully seconded by Shailene Woodley as her daughter. It was interesting to watch their unorthodox and complicated relationship, which defied conventional standards. Thanks to the clues in the form of dream sequences, I was able to form a picture of what had partially happened quite early on, and while the final denouement was somewhat surprising, I also found it very far-fetched. On the one hand, I felt the film had visible ambitions to go beyond the grey average, but on the other I found it somewhat underdeveloped. (19.03.2020)

I'm surprised how much I liked this movie. It's a thriller that is narrated in such an interesting fairytale-like way, and it is also acted in a way that keeps you guessing until the end, not knowing what happened and why it happened. The flashbacks and dream scenes greatly contribute to this fairytale-like atmosphere, and Shailene Woodley becomes my favorite actress, and not just because she appears nude in this movie. (10.10.2014)