The Loneliest Planet

Name: The Loneliest Planet
Genre: Thriller
Released: October 26, 2012
Duration: 113 min
Rating: 76
Cast: Bidzina Gujabidze, Gael García Bernal, Hani Furstenberg

2012

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Ratings

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5.7

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5.7	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Ratings

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The Loneliest Planet

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: October 26, 2012 | Not Rated

Starring: Bidzina Gujabidze, Gael García Bernal, Hani Furstenberg

Summary: Alex and Nica are young, in love and engaged to be married. The summer before their wedding, they are backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The couple hire a local guide to lead them on a camping trek, and the three set off into a stunning wilderness, a landscape that is both overwhelmingly open and frighteningly closed. WalkingAlex and Nica are young, in love and engaged to be married. The summer before their wedding, they are backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The couple hire a local guide to lead them on a camping trek, and the three set off into a stunning wilderness, a landscape that is both overwhelmingly open and frighteningly closed. Walking for hours, they trade anecdotes, play games to pass the time of moving through space. And then, a momentary misstep, a gesture that takes only two or three seconds, a gesture that’s over almost as soon as it begins. But once it is done, it can’t be undone. Once it is done, it threatens to undo everything the couple believed about each other and about themselves. All the while, they are not alone. They are always with the guide, who witnesses their every move. The film plays off the relationship between young travelers and the places they travel to, between guide and guided. But at heart, it is a love story -- a tale about betrayal, both accidental and deliberate, about masculinity, failure and the ambiguities of forgiveness. (IFC Films)… Expand

Director: Julia Loktev

Genre(s): Thriller

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 113 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Scott Tobias

Oct 24, 2012

The film feels as beautifully calibrated as a great piece of short fiction, only with visual accents and emphases filling in for the prose. It's a relationship movie where the most important exchanges remain unspoken. Read full review

Movieline Alison Willmore

Oct 24, 2012

One of the finest of the year, The Loneliest Planet is based on a short story by Tom Bissell that's itself inspired by a famous Hemingway work, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." Read full review

Wesley Morris

Nov 1, 2012

The movie captures a kind of tragedy of self. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

Oct 23, 2012

Adjust to the deliberate rhythms of this hiking movie-set on the lush slopes of Georgia's Caucasus Mountains - and the psychological payoff stings like a blister. Read full review

A.O. Scott

Oct 25, 2012

It is gripping and haunting, but also coy and elusive. Read full review

Aaron Hillis

Oct 13, 2012

Julia Loktev's marvelous, slow-burning follow-up to her minimalist thriller "Day Night Day Night" somehow manages to be both audacious and subtle. Read full review

Farran Smith Nehme

Oct 25, 2012

Gorgeous surroundings don't make up for sulky, feuding travel companions. Read full review

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User Reviews

dante_finn

Nov 17, 2012

One of the most original odd movies that are interesting. Most of the movie is a wordless mature movie that is emotional and physical at the same time

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MarcDoyle

Oct 27, 2012

An absolutely beautifully-shot film. I would be shocked if a not-insignificant percentage of people who see this film didn't plan a trip to Georgia to make this hike. Truly extraordinary. However, very little happens in this film. And that's certainly ok. Sometimes you just have to letAn absolutely beautifully-shot film. I would be shocked if a not-insignificant percentage of people who see this film didn't plan a trip to Georgia to make this hike. Truly extraordinary. However, very little happens in this film. And that's certainly ok. Sometimes you just have to let art flow by you. No need to be super analytical here. There are essentially two moments of drama to the film, followed by some weighty emotional repercussions, and that's it! But hey, I felt like i was there, it made me think of my boy scout backpacking days, and in that sense, I enjoyed it. But a great film scoring at or near perfect scores from some of these critics? No. I will say that it's better than another critically acclaimed film with the same pacing - Meek's Cutoff. That sucker bored me to tears. This movie is not boring - it just rolls at a meticulous pace, as if you're walking with the trio through a very beautiful museum.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

metamom

Sep 2, 2014

The Loneliest Planet is worth seeing for the scenery alone! This is a marvelous movie to watch while you are doing the dishes or cooking a meal, or while doing two sets of dishes and cooking two meals. There is a bit of nudity at the beginning and some groping and moaning scattered throughThe Loneliest Planet is worth seeing for the scenery alone! This is a marvelous movie to watch while you are doing the dishes or cooking a meal, or while doing two sets of dishes and cooking two meals. There is a bit of nudity at the beginning and some groping and moaning scattered through the rest of the movie, but the movie was much more interesting for the landscape than for the acting or the plot.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

BKM

Dec 21, 2012

The Loneliest Planet is a colossal bore that doesn't offer any real payoff of any sort. Yes, the scenery is nice and the film goes to great lengths to accurately depict the ways in which people are unable of communicating with one another, but the bottom line is that this movie doesn't haveThe Loneliest Planet is a colossal bore that doesn't offer any real payoff of any sort. Yes, the scenery is nice and the film goes to great lengths to accurately depict the ways in which people are unable of communicating with one another, but the bottom line is that this movie doesn't have very much to say and yet it takes an extremely long time to do so.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

Cxpn89

Oct 25, 2015

If you removed the plot and characters from this movie, I would've given it a significantly higher rating. It starts out alright plotwise. We see the main two characters interacting with each other and the locals, and while nothing gripping happens, we get the point. One climactic event inIf you removed the plot and characters from this movie, I would've given it a significantly higher rating. It starts out alright plotwise. We see the main two characters interacting with each other and the locals, and while nothing gripping happens, we get the point. One climactic event in the whole story was mildly interesting and a little funny, but nothing interesting happens as a result of it. The resolution takes forever to get to and is fairly ridiculous, yet predictable. The movie gives the viewer no reason to care about any of the characters. I gave it any points at all because the scenery is beautiful. The Georgian landscape fills the screen and we're treated to some amazing, stunning shots. If the entire movie was just shots of the landscape it would've been great, but the two main characters managed to be at once obnoxious and pathetic. They made a visually stunning homage to Georgian geography into a boring and drawn out story about a couple of petty tourists.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

iiigoiii

Mar 22, 2013

Please, if I can save you the nearly 2 hours this film takes to make its point, your time won't be wasted like mine. This is a movie based on a short story by Tom Bissell; the movie might have been interesting itself as a short. However it drags on for nearly 2 hours, during which timePlease, if I can save you the nearly 2 hours this film takes to make its point, your time won't be wasted like mine. This is a movie based on a short story by Tom Bissell; the movie might have been interesting itself as a short. However it drags on for nearly 2 hours, during which time there are literally only a couple of minutes of important scenes. The rest of the time is devoted to trying to set the mood of the relationship between the characters (which could have been done in minutes, not hours)...which unfortunately fails to be interesting or believable.

One of the only saving graces of this movie is the incredible Georgian mountain scenery, and even that is reprised many times in virtually identical shots which themselves drag on so long as to be puzzling.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

Terikan

Mar 4, 2013

The movie is boring, then unrealistic, then all out stupid mixed with repugnant. I cant believe the favorable reviews this garbage got. I had to make an account just to post this. Essentially the couple is not relatable or realistic. Its sort of sexist against men. Most people take itThe movie is boring, then unrealistic, then all out stupid mixed with repugnant. I cant believe the favorable reviews this garbage got. I had to make an account just to post this. Essentially the couple is not relatable or realistic. Its sort of sexist against men. Most people take it for granted how men are expected to instinctually react, but thats really female chauvinism.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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