_High Life_, I was surprised to learn, is a science fiction film directed by Claire Denis and not a publication campaigning to legalize marijuana. The film itself is like your colleague's kid. He's presented as hyper intelligent, moody and artistic, yet the first time you see him he's just as banal and indistinct as every other co-worker's son you've ever met. Denis uses an unnecessarily complex time line in an effort to give the film an artistic edge, but there is no art here to highlight. She metes out information overly-judiciously in an attempt to create an intellectual movie, but the story isn't that intelligent so the film looks like me that one autumn I tried to dress trendy and fooled absolutely no one. Robert Pattinson, one of the more talented actors working today, does a fine job with his role though there's not a lot for him to work with. It's as though the chef from _Good Time_ is given a handful of ground beef with which to make a meal. Yes, it's a great cheeseburger but hell, it's just a cheeseburger. All told, I'm thinking _High Life_ never really got off the ground. Is it too late to make it about pot?

Space is empty and boring. Now let's make a movie that's completely dull to show that. Why so boring? Doesn't feel any more real. Didn't help with a mood. It's set in space yet there is no atmosphere (pun unintended). At least other lonely space adventures develop consistent underlying plots and interesting character progressions with the isolation. This movie tries hard to be deep.

I was equally proud and ashamed that I managed to waste 2 hours sitting through this steaming pile of art house trash.

Did i just watch 2 hours of a director's fetish? Such a pointless, boring piece of shit. The most disturbing part was how they kept calling the skinny white girl the "big booty girl". Some serious self-inserting going on here. Not surprised when i found out it was directed by a woman.

Making every scene & every interaction as brutally slow moving & achingly wooden as possible does not make your film "artsy". I'm a bit overwhelmed at the praise heaped on this film because I was not invested in it or the characters at all, instead I found myself crushed with boredom. Space is isolating. Yep, we know. Putting criminals in close spaces for some experimental trip towards a black hole and using them for reproductive experiments is likely not going to have great results (surprising, right?). But instead of intense interactions that it should trigger... it's just glacially paced, sullen conversations punctuated by a quick violent outburst here or there. The more I try to pull out something deeper or figure out how to appreciate this film a bit more, I just get more frustrated with everything it wasn't.