Wondering why this got no play, hardly any visibility anywhere. Stumbled across on TV, and delighted.

Yes, an arthouse sensibility and lots will not like this, but every note, every frame rang true. I was annoyed when his mom came on screen as that was too close to old mom (or aunt, etc) griping about stuff. And overall, I have had enough time in small towns with friends and distant relatives that the whole tone of low expectations and knowing the same people for your whole life worked.

Also found his cabin building to be fascinating and rang entirely true to my experiences. Nice gear, used properly, and nice gaps to it also. Hand cutting, and using bolt cutters instead of pruners at the end was a lovely touch.

(If expanding didn't get it, AS SPOILERY AS SPOILERS GET)

But most of all the broadest scope of the movie left me almost stunned. Ujon Tokarski is making a big change, a weird one but one that seems plausible to work out for him and he's just gotten Tara Summers to change her life, at least has a fighting chance at normalcy, which with the nesting of making a cabin in the woods, seems to be what he wants.

And, he admits, he doesn't. He just flees again, and while film (well, narratives generally) want character development as part of the journey, in reality people don't change much and not in this timeframe. This rang very very true of real life.

I get the wanting to change yourself and so the best option is to leave a toxic environment aspect here. But then a death calls him back to settle family affairs. But then he somehow thinks that the toxic environment somehow also changed in his absence. I mean why would you go back to old people and haunts expecting them to accomodate the changes you made.

Kind of frustrating to see this main protag running headlong into this mess, there was no reason for it really other than the fact that he didn't really change that much while away. It was a faux change from the story about his time away he tells to an ex, the protag seems a bit on the simple side tbh. IRL you just totally avoid those people and find some new people who share your new values. There's not even a need to go away just drop them. With the inheritance make a new start. I guess I'm just a bunch fed up with the fake drama and suspension of disbelief stuff all this hangs on. I do like this movie but only as a warning really as to frustrating yourself which this protag does. And the ending is just showing a cycle of it going on, but running away from a lot more. I mean maybe he came back but that's not what is implied at the end. More mess to cleanup later I guess. The kabbalistic tarot isn't really needed here and is just artificially added into it for some reason, it's like the materialism and fatalism of astrology, gag. And it's not a mistake the godzilla ex is the one to introduce it, ugh. Like you can't change it's all in the cards or stars or your genes or etc nonsense. That's all an excuse to throw your hands up.