SummaryAlbert is employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia’s well-being. Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave.
Directed By:Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Written By:Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Geoff Cox, Brian Catling, Alante Kavaite
Earwig
Metascore
Generally Favorable
61
User score
Mixed or Average
4.7
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
54% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
46% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Sep 18, 2021
91
Movies like “Earwig” defy criticism or even explanation. ... Lucile Hadžihalilović took a risk by making a movie this peculiar; it feels like the least we can do is take a risk by watching it.
Jun 7, 2022
80
In a just world, Hadžihalilović would be as acclaimed as somebody like Tim Burton, whose greatest films boast a spiritual connection of sorts to the French director.
User score
Mixed or Average
43% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
29% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
29% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Aug 17, 2022
5
Creativity and an intense atmosphere unfold in a film that doesn't seem to have a straight story and no clear direction.
I understand it's based on a book of which I've never heard before, so I can't say anything about that plot or whether it was properly adapted, but ambiguity is the trademark of this version. There's a lot more to infer than what the movie allows itself to explain and I don't disagree with that, it's just that I couldn't quite figure out if I was missing information to get a better idea of what was happening on screen or I just wasn't able to make sense of it with what I could appreciate. Earwig is as frustrating as it is intriguing, just not truly satisfying.
Oct 30, 2023
4
When you don't have any story to tell, you start to depend on cinematic techniques. Director has created a very intense atmosphere for sure. The sound design was very good but can't say the same thing for the storytelling. Because there is none. The whole movie is like a lesson for students about "how to use cinematic techniques to create unquestionable art movies". Probably this is her style. This was my first Lucile Hadzihalilovic movie. Probably will stay as the last one.
Sep 18, 2021
67
The result is an impressionistic film that flirts with slow cinema on its way towards something more incantatory; a film that doesn’t want to lull you to sleep so much as it wants to lure you into a place so dark and dreamy that you can no longer be certain that you’re still awake.
Jul 15, 2022
63
Hadžihalilović's latest is both too hazy to make a great adaptation and too focused to be genuinely dream-like.
Jun 11, 2022
60
Earwig, the director’s first English-language film, lacks the macabre logic of Evolution, or the precision of Innocence; the audience is left fumbling for meaning in the gloom.
Sep 18, 2021
60
Viewers looking for explanations should probably stay away, but those willing to be carried by the film’s casual pace and haunting aesthetic will find there are few places like it in contemporary cinema.
Jun 10, 2022
40
This is at the very least a beautifully designed failure, marrying crepuscular photography with faultless art direction, and blessed by a gorgeous, otherworldly score by Augustin Viard, a specialist in the ondes Martenot. It looks and sounds so darkly inviting – but sends you home unsated.
Jan 20, 2023
2
Típico filme que precisa de muito envolvimento e carisma com os personagens para funcionar, ele se passa na maior parte do tempo sem palavras, acompanhando um homem meio sádico cuidando de uma garota que usa prótese dentária.
Há uma ambientação até boa, você sente a claustrofobia do casarão em que habitam e a fotografia escura também ajuda. Mas é apenas isso. As situações são insípidas e a diretora meio prepotente ao achar que cenas minimalistas e arrastadas vão transformar aquilo tudo em arte. Torna-se um tremendo aborrecimento.
Quando surgem outros personagens, até melhora o dinamismo, mas fica tudo sem um porquê, uma violência gratuita pois como não desenvolve bem os personagens, você pouco se importa com os acontecimentos. É um filme completamente desnecessário e que precisaria de uma história mais visceral para valer a conferida.
Production Company:
- Petit Film
- Anti-Worlds
- Frakas Productions
- BFI Film Fund
- Film4
Release Date:Jul 15, 2022
Duration:1 h 54 m
Website:
Awards
San Sebastián International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Toronto International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Cleveland International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
