Just got out. It was the last of the 9 Best Picture nominees to see. Wow. The best word I could use was mesmerizing. Just held my attention the entire time. Really loved it.
First and foremost of course DDL is fantastic as always.
I wish Vicky Krieps had gotten more awards buzz. She was great in her role by itself, but the fact that she went toe to toe with DDL and held her own was amazing. I kept thinking to myself how I would sh%t my pants if I was on the other end of a DDL stare down and she stood right up to it.
And the writing was fantastic. Right from the get go, the breakfast scene with the initial girl, something like:
DDL: "No more sweets for breakfast. I told you that."
Girl: "No I don't remember... or maybe you told someone else."
PT pretty much tells you everything you need to know in two frickin lines. Damn. Such a greater filmmaker. And as others have said, all the framings were beautiful. Like when she leaves for NYE and he sits. He fills the left side of the screen, yet the door on the right is everything. You have maybe the greatest actor ever on screen alone and yet my eye was staring at a door. That's directing.
Like others said. A lot to unpack.
To me the mother was key. Alma wanted to hurt him with the mushrooms but it revealed something. That he needed to be cared for when he was weak. That he loved his mother and her death left a hole in him. Alma filled that hole. The scene where he is talking to his mother's ghost, Alma comes in crosses the screen, forcing the camera to follow, and then comes back across and the mother is gone. She quite literally has replaced the mother, filled the space DDL was looking for.
After he gets well he is a changed man from the love he received, subconsciously having a mother back in his life. He makes a speech about the mistakes he has made in his life and made over and over again. As time goes on we see him start to settle in his old ways, to make the same mistakes, but Alma goes to the mushrooms again because he wants to take care of him and that is the only way. DDL watches her and realizes it all and they settle into a beautiful relationship.