Seb's Web

Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut from 2008 is an absolute masterpiece and, without a doubt in my mind, one of the best movies ever made. As we can expect from Kaufman, it’s very well written and features an almost pathological attention to detail. I can see how it can come off as pretentious, as even from the title is comes off as self-referential and meta and the movie just takes that to an absurd degree. But it makes so much sense within the confines of the movie that it doesn’t feel that absurd.

Philip Seymour Hoffman does an amazing job, as always, and his character contrasts very well with Catherine Keener. On the first viewing it might be too much to absorb all the intricacies of the story, but even then there are philosophical moments that you take away and feel deeply. On subsequent viewings, and this is one of those films where even a fourth watch is rewarding, you connect the pieces of the puzzle, empathize even more with the characters and their tragedies and start to reflect even more on your own story.

It’s a movie that tugs on your soul, mind and heart strings. A play within a play within a play featuring so many motifs and references it would make James Joyce proud. An absolute treasure. 10/10