"He will exceed your expectations"
I do not think I am able to write anything logical, anything thought tonight.. These are only raw feelings, raw impressions, raw advices...
If you let yourself be overwhelmed with the emotion of Jessica Chastain, if you let the tears come at her terrible cry of hate to her God, of interrogation to her God, a so terrible question it is heard and resonate through time, at the Beginning of Everything, then the movie will flow for you like a river. An incredible journey.
And the tears, they will come again, later in the film when at the end of the childhood of the boys, Mr O'Brien will understand his life
Before the very first tears, as Saint Peter doubted, you will have doubted about Terrence Malick, probably in these awkward scenes with Sean Penn a couple of minutes after the opening scenes..
But when it will flow, you will feel something from Days of Heaven, maybe because of something in the music that echoes to it, something maybe purer yet than in the New World..
Anything similar by anyone else would be ridiculous.. Here you will just feel an open heart, a man* in love with the world, with the sacredness of each of our souls. With the world, the ultimate mystery that shines before us.
(*Terrence Malick)
I know I have written, speaking of Malick, "he will exceed your expectations". But do not hope, do not expect anything. Come with an open mind. Let this story be yours. Accept the christianity of the characters, accept the spiritual travel of adult Jack, whatever your beliefs or non-beliefs are (I speak for my self, I am atheist).
Do not expect it as the definitive film of Terrence Malick. See it as another chapter of what he has to give us. As a fifth movie. A fifth chapter added to his telling.
And possibly, with this state of mind, paradoxically you will discover it is maybe his definitive film
As for The Thin Red Line, as for The New World, time will be an ally. These are the three same movies, three discoveries of interior peace, before our mortality.