Review of The Elder One

Just saw it a few days ago at TIFF. It took a while to get immersed in the rush of various themes because of very chopy cuts and sequence switches. Then it was ok for a while, still choppy and rushed but almost harking back to cinema verite. And it felt salvageable, the themes inspiring and tough to handle when inserted into Mumbai slums or seemingly idyllic, but conservative island setting. Ultimately though, two hours later, my distaste of editing prevented me from fully connecting with the film. My female partners didn't enjoy the film at all, finding it confusing and too real in its brutality while unrealistic from a storyline perspective. The Q&A was great and shed a bit of light on what apparently was the prevailing theme of search, and added a lot of colour to many other scenes. Ultimately, I hope the director continues to make films as the narrative was primising and her voice, unique, but it'd be great if she found a better editor.