Julia

Julia drinks. She drinks every night, does not remember in the morning where she has been, and has lost her job. A friend takes her to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There she meets a woman called Elena. Elena's son is with his grandfather; she cannot see the boy and describes a plan: she will take him and ask the grandfather for money. Julia finds it absurd. Then she thinks about the money. She decides to do it herself. She takes the boy. But there is no plan, no preparation, and Julia makes a worse decision at every step. They head for the Mexican border. Erick Zonca directs. Tilda Swinton plays Julia; Saul Rubinek, Kate del Castillo and Aidan Gould are in the cast. It is a French production and the language is English. The narrative refers openly to a film by John Cassavetes; the relation between the woman and the child comes from the same shape. Tilda Swinton's performance carries the picture and the character is made likeable nowhere. The narrative gives Julia no justification; her past is not told and the cause of the drinking not explained. It runs long and the narrative proceeds close to real time. It was shot in California and Mexico. The narrative does not tie the relation between the boy and Julia to an emotional resolution. Its limit is the watching; the character is tiring, it runs long, and the narrative gives no relief. Who it is for: viewers who like thrillers centred on character and Tilda Swinton. Who it is not for: it is long, the character repellent, and the ending uncertain.