Curator Watchlist
An ambitious, emotionally earnest sci-fi romance about choice, fate, and the lives we might have lived. It has striking ideas and a strong visual imagination, but its sprawling structure and self-conscious philosophizing can make it feel overstuffed or indulgent.
Where to watch: Buy
Fri · 2h 21m
Director: Jaco Van Dormael
Starring: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger
Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092.
Jaco Van Dormael
Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger
An ambitious, emotionally earnest sci-fi romance about choice, fate, and the lives we might have lived. It has striking ideas and a strong visual imagination, but its sprawling structure and self-conscious philosophizing can make it feel overstuffed or indulgent.
Mr. Nobody is the kind of film that announces its ambition from the first scene and never really backs down. It treats a single life as a branching set of possibilities, turning memory, regret, and chance into a sprawling meditation on identity and love. When it works, it feels expansive and moving, with a genuine sense of wonder about how tiny choices shape an entire existence.
The downside is that the movie often explains itself to death. Its emotional core is strong, but the film keeps circling the same ideas in increasingly ornate ways, which can make the experience feel bloated. Some viewers will find that excess intoxicating; others will feel like the movie is trying very hard to be profound.
Still, there’s real craft here, especially in the way it shifts tones and timelines without losing its central romantic ache. If you like films that are more interested in possibility than certainty, and you don’t mind a little mess in service of a big idea, it’s a memorable watch.
russman (2★) · 1782 likes
I can only tolerate up to one version of Jared Leto in a film
Jeff · 912 likes
Tuesday September 25, 20121:30pm PDT I don't know if I can do it. I'm 45 minutes in and just found out there's another hour and a half left. I'm going to take a break and regather. Tuesday September 25, 20124:39pm PDT Alright. Refreshed and back at it. Don't filmmakers realize that they aren't allowed to use "Where Is My Mind" anymore? Tuesday September 25, 20125:38pm PDT A half an hour of whispered dialog with the occasional English-child-voice-over explaining the butterfly effect to me is probably enough for now. I'm going to drink some beers and watch something good.
DirkH (2★) · 737 likes
Film#55 of 'It's June Jim, but not as we know it' Too ambitious for its own good with a very simple central theme hidden underneath a huge amount of unnecessary and pseudo-intellectual babble. Basically what Mr. Nobody has to say is that life is governed by choice and is filled with endless possibilities. It is also a testament to love. These things could have provided for a fantastic and rich film. But this film's potential strength is buried under an… more
Wesley R. Ball (5★) · 731 likes
A single snowflake can bend the leaf of the bamboo Honestly, I can see why this film went over so many people's heads when it was released. The story is so complex, and it honestly isn't for everyone. Most people will probably be off-put by the fact that it doesn't try too hard to explain things, but that's the beauty of it. Mr. Nobody probably requires some research after watching, but it is a beautiful examination of the effect of… more
Apelsins (4★) · 717 likes
''Every path is the right path. Everything could've been anything else. And it would have just as much meaning.''
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alternate lives, fate vs free will, memory and identity, regret, love and loss, time and nonlinear narrative, childhood and adulthood, existentialism
philosophical sci-fi, nonlinear narrative, romantic drama, existential, mind-bending, melancholic, surreal, time-bending, coming-of-age, art-house