The Loneliest Planet

Directed by Julia Loktev

(Not rated)

***

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Blink and you might miss “the small but decisive event” that transforms this “spectacularly scenic” movie into a piercing tragedy, said Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal. As a loving young couple backpacking across the Caucasus Mountains, Gael García Bernal and the little-known Hani Furstenberg give performances so good that “they don’t always look like performances.” Their every gesture demands respect for the characters’ special bond, until that one moment that redefines what we mean when we speak of loneliness. “Planet is a piece of art even without Bernal and Furstenberg,” said Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times. “The landscape is breathtaking,” and writer/director Julia Loktev uses long silences and even longer shots to help viewers understand the existential experience that this journey would be for any traveler. But Loktev is almost aggressive in her commitment to subtlety, said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. Even guessing how the critical moment will affect this couple when they return to normal life feels futile. This movie may be “gripping and haunting,” but it’s also “coy and elusive.”