A visual treat in terms of spectacular background vistas, beautiful medieval castles, simple yet pleasant cinematography, rich-in-detail costumes and competent acting. A collection of twisted fairy tales full of grey characters, dark themes, loose morals and gory visuals and it is not for everyone - one can either love it or hate it.
A very loosely interlinked collection of twisted 3 fairy tales of involving 3 neighboring kingdoms - Longtrellis : The Queen (Salma Hayek) longs to bear a child and is willing to go to any lengths and pay any cost to make it a reality. - Highhills : The King (Toby Jones) gets fascinated by a strange creature which becomes his obsession - neglecting and also putting her life in danger along the way. - Strongcliff : The King (Vincent Cassel) a womanizer who mistakes a very old washerwoman for a beautiful young girl and gets obsessed with her who takes him on a ride.
Before one could make sense of the plot and premise, the visuals and the background score just sweeps you over and transfers you into its world full of fantasies. Though the plot is full of mysteries, the storytelling is simplistic and never tries to be mysterious. There are no backstories for its protagonists unlike standard fairy tales and their character arcs are to be derived only from their current actions. The excellent production values are complemented by a brilliant art direction showcasing the grandeur of exterior locales, massive castles, beautiful chambers and courtrooms.
Salma Hayek is excellent in expressing as the longing mother-to-be but her dialogue diction gives it away. The psychotic old women playing the characters Dora and Imma are both evilistic and grotesque intentionally. It is not always a very pleasant ride though, there are moments in the movie where it gets stagnated and should have been better edited/scripted. Leaving the fantasy aside, there are many logical errors which gets prominent and non-ignorable after a point. A standard audience expectation would be to interweave the stories at some point, but the abrupt ending can be a double-edged sword leaving you with mixed feeling of emptiness and anticipation.
A collection of medieval fairy tales that is not for everyone but has a lot more on offer than its twisted protagonists.
A very loosely interlinked collection of twisted 3 fairy tales of involving 3 neighboring kingdoms - Longtrellis : The Queen (Salma Hayek) longs to bear a child and is willing to go to any lengths and pay any cost to make it a reality. - Highhills : The King (Toby Jones) gets fascinated by a strange creature which becomes his obsession - neglecting and also putting her life in danger along the way. - Strongcliff : The King (Vincent Cassel) a womanizer who mistakes a very old washerwoman for a beautiful young girl and gets obsessed with her who takes him on a ride.
Before one could make sense of the plot and premise, the visuals and the background score just sweeps you over and transfers you into its world full of fantasies. Though the plot is full of mysteries, the storytelling is simplistic and never tries to be mysterious. There are no backstories for its protagonists unlike standard fairy tales and their character arcs are to be derived only from their current actions. The excellent production values are complemented by a brilliant art direction showcasing the grandeur of exterior locales, massive castles, beautiful chambers and courtrooms.
Salma Hayek is excellent in expressing as the longing mother-to-be but her dialogue diction gives it away. The psychotic old women playing the characters Dora and Imma are both evilistic and grotesque intentionally. It is not always a very pleasant ride though, there are moments in the movie where it gets stagnated and should have been better edited/scripted. Leaving the fantasy aside, there are many logical errors which gets prominent and non-ignorable after a point. A standard audience expectation would be to interweave the stories at some point, but the abrupt ending can be a double-edged sword leaving you with mixed feeling of emptiness and anticipation.
A collection of medieval fairy tales that is not for everyone but has a lot more on offer than its twisted protagonists.