I'm going to go against some of the earlier tide here. This, for me, is a brilliant film. It takes the concept of quantum entanglement, which is a mind-bending, yet very real scientific theory, which has been empirically proven, and runs with it. Yes, the film is, at times disjointed and confusing, but so is Mattie's life. Think how she must feel. Don't like it? Tough. Live with it. She has to.
Call this film strange? Well, so is our universe. Quantum mechanics is very strange. It is so strange that many theorists, well-versed in it, have difficulty understanding it at a gut level. Mattie has to live with this strangeness. Why can't we?
The interludes between the two friends (Mattie and Jess) are extraordinary. Crossing the stream holding hands; the one-sided pillow-fight in the tent; making the heart shapes with their hands in the planetarium to show their friendship. Simply beautiful. This all makes the apology-forgiveness-death scene with Mattie and Jess in the hospital so deeply moving.
The use of music in the film is brilliant. For me the highlight was the use of The Paper Stars' song, "Walking Shadow" during the slow-motion car crash scene. This is an incredibly creative combination of cinematography and music. The visuals are very powerful - the multiple images of the broken violin; the bloody "Best Friends Forever" heart necklace; Mattie in the throes of her agony; and the sight of critically injured Jess being cared for by the emergency team, who, themselves hit you in the gut because they have dual roles. Finally, the song during this slow-motion scene is stunningly beautiful.
This IS a science-fiction film because it embodies fiction based upon REAL science. It is also humanistic, dealing with love, anger, responsibility, guilt, forgiveness, death and, I'm sure, many other emotions, and issues I have left out.
If you watched the film and liked it enough to give it another go, please DO SO. I find that you get even more out of it with added viewings. Some may argue, "You shouldn't have to watch it a second time or more." I would argue that this simply points to the depth of the film, and the complexities with which the film is trying to deal.
Producer, Meryem Ersoz, (she also helped with writing the story) has given us a gift with this film. It is a gift because it is beautiful and intriguing while viewing it. It is also a gift because it is something to seriously contemplate, over time, after the film has finished.