Aloft | Rotten Tomatoes

Aloft

R

Released May 22, 2015

1h 56m

Drama

List

16%

64 Reviews

Tomatometer

27%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Accompanied by a documentary filmmaker, a falconer (Cillian Murphy) sets out across a frozen landscape to find his mother (Jennifer Connelly), a faith healer whom he hasn't seen in many years.

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Premiered Mar 07

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Critics Consensus

Glacially paced and ineptly plotted, Aloft crushes the game efforts of a talented cast under a dreary viewing experience whose title proves sadly ironic.

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Barbara M

Very slow moving but kept my interest. The cast did a great job with what they had to deal with and I believe their performance is the reason I enjoyed the movie.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/12/22

Full Review

Audience Member

I really need to stop procrastinating watching movies because of review scores as I really loved this flick. The start of ALOFT is a little confusing, however, if you keep focused and pay attention, you are definitely rewarded with a very thought provoking, beautiful film. The ending and much of the story leave a lot untold, and that could possibly annoy some. I feel that to answer these questions would really tarnish the artistic merit of the film. And that's what ALOFT is, a piece of art. Cillian Murphy and Jennifer Connelly pull off great performances, maybe even their best. Not many actors could make this film work and they (and the others) definitely make it work. The film is also very well shot if your one for atmosphere, ALOFT has it in spades. This is definitely one of the more depressing movies I've seen. Definitely don't watch if you are expecting a happy ending or happy anything. If you want to see that, watch a Hollywood blockbuster. I never write reviews, I just felt I had to write this as I really enjoyed the film plus the fact that is got horrendously terrible reviews. Disclaimer - I'm a huge Cillian Murphy fan.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Like watching ice melt; this film takes a long time to reach its end...but the acting in the final scene really drives home the message. 2 1/2 stars

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As much as I like Jennifer Connelly and Cillian Murphy, nothing on Earth could ever justify me sitting through this colossal mess of a movie ever again. This was so boring that I just couldn't bring myself to care about anything going on in it. I would not recommend this one.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Frances H

Powerful performances by Connelly and Murphy center this story of guilt and abandonment, but the script and presentation of the story make it difficult to understand unless you read the Wikipedia article on it first, as I did. This film has that in common with Cloud Atlas--you need to know the plot beforehand or it makes little sense. Even so, the cinematography and good acting and direction give this film a lovely, poetic quality.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/16

Full Review

Audience Member

A little monotonous, Aloft is an intriguing character drama but it doesn't flesh out its ideas very well. The story follows the son of a reclusive faith healer who, after being estranged from his mother for nearly 20 years, teams up with a reporter in order to track her down. Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, and Melanie Laurent lead the cast and give strong performances. And the visual aesthetic has a bleak and mystic quality to it that sets an atmospheric tone. Yet the storytelling is rather weak and does a poor job at developing the characters. However, despite its flaws Aloft is an interesting film with some compelling themes.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

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Claudia Llosa

Director

Jennifer Connelly

Nana Kunning

Cillian Murphy

Ivan

Mélanie Laurent

Jania Ressmore

Oona Chaplin

Alice

Ian Tracey

Hans

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Tom Long

Detroit News

Just when you're ready for "Aloft" to take wing, it ends.

Rated: C+

Jul 10, 2015

Full Review

Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

Connelly, with her signature brand of serene toughness, does tragedy very well, but she doesn't really have a character to play here; just an endless series of tight close-ups and troubled expressions.

Rated: 2/4

Jul 2, 2015

Full Review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Aloft's characters exude a certain impregnability, and the story's structure only further distances us from them.

Rated: 1.5/5

Jun 25, 2015

Full Review

Jorge Ignacio Castillo

The Canadian Crew

Early Alejandro González-Iñarritu called. He wants his style back.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jan 28, 2020

Full Review

Chris McCoy

Memphis Flyer

There's a difference between pursuing a personal vision and wallowing in your own fetishes, as writer/director Claudia Llosa has done here.

Jan 10, 2020

Full Review

Sebastian Zavala Kahn

Cinencuentro

All that Aloft wants to do is to tell a story about a son and his mother, surrounding it with spiritual themes and metaphors involving falconry. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 3/4

Feb 1, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

Accompanied by a documentary filmmaker, a falconer (Cillian Murphy) sets out across a frozen landscape to find his mother (Jennifer Connelly), a faith healer whom he hasn't seen in many years.

Director: Claudia Llosa
Screenwriter: Claudia Llosa
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Wanda Visión S.A., Arcadia Motion Pictures
Rating: R (Some Sexuality|Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 22, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $53.0K
Runtime: 1h 56m

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