Perfect Sense (2012)
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 50
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 24
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 4,537
Movie Info
A hit at Sundance '11 and winner of the Ediburgh Film Festival's prize for Best New British Feature, the amazing genre creation directed by David Mackenzie stars Eva Green and Ewan McGregor as witnesses to the end of the world-- strangers who form a desperate romantic connection in the face of an apocalyptic epidemic of sensory loss. -- (C) IFC
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Cast
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Eva Green
Susan -
Ewan McGregor
Michael -
Connie Nielsen
Jenny -
Ewen Bremner
James -
Stephen Dillane
Samuel -
Denis Lawson
Boss
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Perfect Sense Trailer & Photos
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (24) | DVD (2)
An intriguing apocalyptic romance with a multi-purpose title.
Top CriticThe problem with Perfect Sense is its inability to be effective as either a character-based love story or something larger and more bold.
People around the world progressively lose their senses of smell, taste, hearing and, finally, sight. Too bad the filmmakers never seem to have had a sense of humor in the first place.
A solemn sci-fi parable set in present-day Glasgow, whose deepening sense of foreboding is sustained by the enigmatic, pseudo-biblical reflections of an unseen narrator.
It's difficult to impart feelings of profound sadness with an image of Ewan McGregor shoving a stick of butter in his mouth.
Sadly, even aficionados of the Cinema of Extinction may make "Perfect Sense" an Omega choice.
A seriously bleak little movie...
full review at Movies for the Masses
The most depressing film in recent memory might be this low-budget apocalyptic Irish romance.
Each deprivation is preceded by a flurry of emotion that leads to the film's most vivid sequences.
There is a low key element to this narrative much like what CHILDREN OF MEN offered, however this is not nearly as successful as Alfonso Cuarón's brilliant feature.
A deeply spiritual love story that challenges us to be fully alive to the report of our senses and to live in the present moment which will never appear again.
Ultimately too silly to truly captivate.
A strong candidate for the most nauseating film of the year, in every sense.
Visually glassy and smooth, Perfect Sense values the dynamic mood of each scene without being overly stylized.
The gimmick isn't enough to sustain drama because it doesn't provide jeopardy..Even as humanity is slowly stripped of its senses, nothing seems to be particularly at stake.
Audience Reviews for Perfect Sense
Central is the theme that people do what people will do, and that, in particular, without love and companionship the human condition is nothing. This is all wrapped up in a parable about an epidemic wherein people begin to lose their senses one by one; all while a narrator tells us that we should take note of all of our senses, and the film follows by pointing out that without the sense of smell to trigger our memories, those memories themselves fade. This is a nice observation as whenever I smell the first scent of ozone before a fall rain it brings back memories of earlier rainy days.
However, this film, featuring Ewan McGregor, while having some poetic moments, and others of blunt realism, still somehow fails to mesh, as there is a certain fatalism at work here which strips the film of many a potential dramatic moment. That you somehow fail to really care much about the entire enterprise, let alone the blossoming love amongst the ruins affair of McGregor and scientist/love interest Eva Green is not the fault of the actors, for they are just fine, if not a bit hemmed in by script restraints... and it isn't that the script doesn't have some very truthful and lovely moments (I'm not going to reveal the ending here, but rather will simply say that it is poignant and satisfying). So then why does the film not illicit a better response? I suspect because the overall arc is so very matter of fact and that, even while showing the love connection between the two leads, the film somehow remains at odds and is often very clinical in its portrayal of the end of the world.
I did rather enjoy the what if scenario involving a restaurant, and found the critic writing about the texture of the food to be a nice touch (am I revealing too much by mentioning this when I have already mentioned that the film is about a lose of the senses?). But.. these moments are unfortunately too few and in its short run time, I felt that too much time was invested on things that ultimately didn't matter (like the running of the restaurant), while other opportunities (like more investigation into the epidemic) remained un-mined gold.
I also felt that the flow of the film could have been better and that the artsy collages of world events were more of a distraction than a contribution to the film. Regardless, this film does have some merit in spite of some rather clumsy handling of the topic.
Super Reviewer
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- Michael: Fat and flour!
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- Michael: I need you to come back to me.
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- Michael: Life goes on.
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- Susan: Then there's the other movement... farmers going out to milk their cows... soldiers reporting for duty. Those who believe that life will go on somehow... or just don't know what else to do. People prepare for the worst... but hope for the best. They concentrate on the things that are important to them. All the things beyond fat and flour.
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- Michael: I think it's okay to panic now.
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- Michael: What do you do... when you're not eating?
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Movie: ID: 771225863 Title: Perfect Sense Release Date: 2012-02-03 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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