The World to Come

Locations
Call Number: Blu-ray Drama World
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Originally released as a motion picture in 2021.
Wide screen.
Special features: Featurette.
Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, Casey Affleck, Karina Ziana Gherasim.
Somewhere along the mid-nineteenth century American East Coast frontier, two neighboring couples battle hardship and isolation, witnessed by a splendid yet testing landscape, challenging them both physically and psychologically.
Blu-ray, wide screen; DTS-HD MA 5.1; requires Blu-ray player.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Beautiful Film, Completely Unnecessary Violence submitted by Meginator on August 21, 2021, 9:31am This is a beautiful film, but it falls victim to the unfortunate habit of storytellers to give sapphic stories horribly unsatisfying endings. To be clear, I can handle conventionally "unhappy" endings (even though, alas, "unhappy" is apparently the default setting for sapphic period romance) and even an ambiguous sense of resolution, but this particular story takes a strange and incongruous turn about three-quarters of the way through that detracts significantly from all of the preceding character and plot development; I've tossed it over in my mind since and can't make sense of it other than the writers decided that something bad and shocking needed to happen. It's a shame, because the film is otherwise quite good, with outstanding acting carrying a relatively sparse script and narration used well to convey much of the film's action and the main character's fluctuating emotional state. The pacing is a bit slow and the film a bit ponderous as a result, but this approach suits the setting and themes quite well as the characters strive to find connections in the wilderness. The film is also very good in its technical aspects, with some interesting cinematography and excellent costuming thrown in for good measure. I really want to adore this film and I appreciate much of the art in it, but that final twist of events just kills the whole production for me in the end. I think it's still worth watching, but don't expect any satisfaction or real resolution at the end; the plotting falls off of a cliff and never recovers.