SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

xhanae I had seen Under the Sand before watching See the sea so I had my hopes high while waiting for it to start on TV. What a mistake that was! Any mention to François Ozon turns my stomach upside down these days. There is so little logic in the story( i.e a lonely mother lets a perfect creepy stranger in her property, she leaves the baby in the beach and bathtub all alone, she lets the stranger babysit her child, after finding the notebook on the tent she still invites the backpacker to stay in the house and ends up having sex with her etc...) that it is hardly believable. Every single impossible mistake the mother makes makes you wanna cry ' not again!'. After a while it looses credibility completely only to become the most disgusting nightmare one can have. Any and every deranging shockers are used. From fecal matter to teeth cleaning with feces dripped toothbrush, from oral sex with gay prostitutes to child-birthing details, from lesbian sex to lesbian kidnapper-murderer-psycho the director welcomes them all. And all this in 50 some minutes which is the only good thing about this film: it's short. The only other movie competing with this one on the disgust-meter is the hostel. If that is art so is this. Quelle horreur!

lulu18 I taped this due to the recommend in the NYT television section and it was right. I kept getting apprehensive from the moment the backpacker turns up. The suspense of approaching terror reminded me of the growing sense of horror in Chabrol's Le Ceremonie.Two quibbles: what mother would leave her baby in the bathtub for only a few seconds. And what mother would leave her baby alone on the beach? The mother obviously had a dark side to begin with; she was lonely (trying to reach her husband for several times without success) and was an easy prey to the backpacker. While the ending horrified me, it shouldn't have surprised me. What was great is the movie didn't drag on and was short.Definitely worth watching and it left me shaken for a long time after-wards. Like Le Ceremonie, it will remain in my memory. Horror doesn't mean slash and gore.

Scree Saw this film on the Sundance Channel a couple times now. It's really not anything new, but it's still a haunting story of frustration, need, and (mis)trust. Sasha seems to be happy (and even says so) with her current settled life, yet there are displays of her boredom and frustration throughout the film (the baby keeps her occupied, yet at the same time it also won't let her sleep, read, etc.). She is also in need of some sex, as a couple scenes prove.I suppose probably being as bored as she is more so than being polite, she befriends Tatiana after being wary of her at first. Strangely, she starts to place way to much trust in this person (leaving her to watch the baby, etc.), but that just shows Sasha is so pent up that she'll take any chance she gets to have some relief. As they get chummier, Tatiana starts to show to the audience signs of being a bit unstable (you got to see one such scene for yourself!), and later Sasha finds her weird notebook drawings but doesn't seem to think much of it (we all doodle, right?). Later when Sasha offers her most trusting friendliness, Tatiana finally does what she has to do, starting with a scene that at first looks more a return of friendship than what really happens. (Even though what finally happens is a bit predictable, it doesn't take away from its impact since such a thing is always disturbing and tragic.)Overall, this was an enjoyable film, if you are into concise, well shot and acted drama with talented actresses. Also, for this particular film, it's length was just right, at just under an hour. A-

George Parker The title "See the Sea" suggests the same lack of creativity and substance which makes this film a huge waste of time. An austere, bleak so-called thriller, "See the Sea" is so devoid of anything and everything is simply isn't worth the time it takes to watch it. Bottom line? Some freaky weird broad shows up at a woman's house and they sorta get to know each other and the freaky weird broad begins to act more freaky and weird...blaa, blaa. "See the Sea" is one for the dustbin. (D)