The Tree of Life is the culmination of Malick’s artistry, and Criterion treats it as such with this totemic release.
Less a race than a ping-pong match, this year’s battle for Best Director has shifted favor from an obvious lock to a popular spoiler and back again.
Few would argue against The Tree of Life being one of the very best films of the year, but it remains the biggest wild card of awards season.
Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life seems certain to remain the most audacious, abstract, and ambiguous American film released this year.
The music of Gustav Mahler is appropriate for the kind of contemplation that Terrence Malick aims to evoke in The Tree of Life.
Terrence Malick’s fifth film hadn’t crawled beyond Cannes, New York or Los Angeles before speculation intensified about the director’s future projects.
Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life never stops moving forward.
It’s fitting that The Tree of Life finds Terrence Malick finally returning to the beginning, travelling back, back, back to the dawn of everything.
The Tree of Life is overwhelming, a gorgeous kaleidoscope of light and color that can feel like a prison.
Can any critic fully trust their initial reaction to such a thematically mammoth film like Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life?