Knight of Cups (Terrence Malik, 2016): USA

Reviewed by Reynaldo Ayon viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2016 Arlington Theater

The centerpiece film of the festival Knight Of Cups directed by Terrence Malick had many people debating whether the film was a good movie or a bad one. When I left the theater i heard many people debating between each other about the film some mentioning the movie was a waste of their time and other saying that the movie was “Interesting”. In my personal opinion the movie had the audience’s attention at all time. Everyone in the movie theater was silent while the film was playing on the screen and anxiety waiting for some type of action to happen in the film to progress the story.

The story starts out with a screenwriter from LA who tries to make out the events that happen throughout his life. He starts out to daze off in his own world and start to question everything. The narrator at the beginning of the story is that of a ancient story from western Europe about a king and a prince. the king warns the prince about a girl the prince fall in love with and she corrupts him over time. He spent his time jumping from women to women throughout the movie each one giving him different advice and some corrupting him by telling him otherwise.

The narration of the movie had many people wondering the motive and message that the film tried to portray. From my point of view the film had many different things happening around. The plot doesn’t give a sense to the viewers what exactly happens to this man. It simply give very slight details on where the man came from how he met each and every one of the different woman in the timeline of the film.

In the end, This film isn’t made for everyone. its for those people who are seeking something new to watch, something entirely different. I wouldnt suggest this film for my family and friends since it wouldn’t make sense to them. The film keeps the viewers thinking about the outcome of it and it’s a good film overall.