Perhaps one of the most incoherent 'genre-bending' sci-fi films i've ever watched. It starts of well enough with two journalist wanna be's trying to connect the dots between a preternatural cataclysm that occurred in the past, a current anomalous weather event that wont go away and strange behavior on the part of people caught in the rain. They do this by interviewing survivor/ witnesses.
Now they're on the road, looking for more evidence.
As they proceed to drive further into the hovering storm, suspense builds nicely as they must re-rout re-map and remember what led them to this journey. So far so good, until Ivana - the protagonist - wakes up alone in the car (now stalled in the eponymous clearing) alone. She decides to find her way out!
Then the movie falls apart as both the acting and the narrative disintegrate into meaningless tics, twitches and twists that make absolutely no sense.
The director had up to that point found a balance between mood and melodrama that then gets completely lost in the woods; even moreso than the main character.
As ivana predictably goes round in circles with an injured foot and a silly limp , so does the narrative! We are now now introduced to many well-worn sci-fi tropes (time loops, reality relativity and genre-bending.) As the protagonist devolves into confusion so did I. What is happening here? Is it metaphysical, metaphorical, psychological, supernatural or super personal.
I know I know, in this type of film ,coherence is supposed to be the victim. But that is external coherence. In films, starting as far back as Memento and more recent sci-fi films like Resolution or Brightwood, we enjoy our confusion because we know that eventually the pieces will will cohere - fit together - in a way that our satisfaction, to varying degrees, is granted.
Not so here. There is never a coming together of these narrative shards. More importantly, there is no internal coherence. Nothing holds this film together. This is NOT an unsolved puzzle (even that would be remotely satisfying). The pieces simply do not fit together!
Now they're on the road, looking for more evidence.
As they proceed to drive further into the hovering storm, suspense builds nicely as they must re-rout re-map and remember what led them to this journey. So far so good, until Ivana - the protagonist - wakes up alone in the car (now stalled in the eponymous clearing) alone. She decides to find her way out!
Then the movie falls apart as both the acting and the narrative disintegrate into meaningless tics, twitches and twists that make absolutely no sense.
The director had up to that point found a balance between mood and melodrama that then gets completely lost in the woods; even moreso than the main character.
As ivana predictably goes round in circles with an injured foot and a silly limp , so does the narrative! We are now now introduced to many well-worn sci-fi tropes (time loops, reality relativity and genre-bending.) As the protagonist devolves into confusion so did I. What is happening here? Is it metaphysical, metaphorical, psychological, supernatural or super personal.
I know I know, in this type of film ,coherence is supposed to be the victim. But that is external coherence. In films, starting as far back as Memento and more recent sci-fi films like Resolution or Brightwood, we enjoy our confusion because we know that eventually the pieces will will cohere - fit together - in a way that our satisfaction, to varying degrees, is granted.
Not so here. There is never a coming together of these narrative shards. More importantly, there is no internal coherence. Nothing holds this film together. This is NOT an unsolved puzzle (even that would be remotely satisfying). The pieces simply do not fit together!
