The interesting and important themes dealt with make this movie well worth watching.
First you think that it will be a simple educational movie about cult addiction and recovery - but then the plot starts to get complicated. Maybe even a bit too complicated, because the end part of the movie feels rather artificial.
The story tells about very important and even universal things: meaning of life, feelings of emptiness, relationships of leaders and their pupils, human nature, need of love. But though those themes are thought provoking, the movie itself lacks a lot as a movie. I cannot help thinking that someone could have made this into a much better movie (shouldn't be the fault of the makers though, many of them have had good artistic achievements).
The persons lack enough depth. The truly complicated nature of people is not - after all - portraited realistically enough in this movie. Because of that you never start to take the movie seriously enough despite the many dead serious themes dealt with.
Very difficult movie to rate. In purely artistic sense, the movie: acting, directing, filming etc. is worth maybe 6/10, but because of the important thought provoking subject, I give it a much better 8/10.
Plot summary
While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barron falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru. Her desperate parents then hire PJ Waters, a macho cult de-programmer who confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway. But PJ quickly learns that he's met his match in the sexy, intelligent and iron-willed Ruth.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
August 14, 2024 at 01:30 PM
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Top cast
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Very good subject but the movie lacks depth
Interesting idea, flawed execution
Holy Smoke has two good performances from Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel. It also has some nice cinematography and some interesting visual tricks, but apart from that, the film is kind of a mixed bag. The story concerns Winslet's family trying to break her from the hold of a religious sect in India. Harvey Keitel is called in by the family to break Winslet and return her to her family. What follows is a three day odyssey that contains an odd transformation from both characters. I'm not sure how I felt after seeing the film, to tell the truth I'm still not sure what the film was saying.
intriguing
Ruth Barron (Kate Winslet) goes to India and falls under guru Baba. Her friends return home to warn her parents in Sydney. Her mother Miriam goes to Delhi to find her. Miriam is overwhelmed and falls sick. Ruth returns to Australia with her bedridden mother. The parents hire exit counselor PJ Waters (Harvey Keitel) and Ruth is confronted with an intervention. She's brought to a remote farm after being tricked about her father on his death bed.
I love Julie Hamilton as the mother. The first act is a lot of wacky backwards Aussie family. When it's only Keitel and Winslet, the movie takes a different tone and becomes something else. It's not bad but the fun is gone. The mano a mano battle is intriguing but I feel a little imprisoned by it. The compelling mother daughter relationship gets sidelined. This movie goes down a weird rabbit-hole and it doesn't necessarily work but it is interesting.