Bokeh (2017) Online

Bokeh is a Japanese term that describes out of focus points of light. Its an appropriate starting point, when discussing this film.

Certainly, there is much about this film that's out of focus. It's message has a diffused quality that's difficult to pinpoint. Most specifically, its true message, as I understand it, is about the meaning of "existence".

As the film unfolds, what it means to be alive clearly has different meanings, for the main characters. One see's the beauty and opportunity in their newfound "freedom", whilst the other simply feels constrained, isolated and oppressed by it. Indeed, as the only supporting character hints at, we are "one and one and one".

The problem with this film is its so quiet and so subtle, that is, out of focus, that its very understandable, that its meaning may be overlooked.Personally I liked Bokeh but I can fully appreciate why others may not be so taken with it.

What is remarkable, is the visual quality of this film. Its wide screen cinematic's are really quite breath taking when combined with Iceland's exceptional, rugged natural beauty. In this respect this film really is quite outstanding.

All in all a mixed film that I personally believe, needed to offer a little more focus, to have broad appeal but is still an interesting watch nonetheless. Seven out of ten from me.

This is the invention of a new sub-genre: Postapocalyptic boredom. Why bother with a story if you can watch two completely uninteresting random people do completely uninteresting things for 1:30 hours. Sounds great doesn't it? Nothing happens in this movie. It is empty, pointless, boring and depressing. There is no plot. Only nothingness. Just two people doing nothing. Did i mention it was boring? Really really really boring.

This is by far the best explanation of what to expect: Nothing is a concept denoting the absence of something, and is associated with nothingness. Nothing denotes things lacking importance, interest, value, relevance, or significance. Nothingness is the state of being nothing, the state of nonexistence of anything, or the property of having nothing. (quote from Wikipedia).

The problem is that with (mostly) only two people on screen that you really know nothing about it is hard to care about anything happening to them. the main characters never really showed anything about themselves to get me emotionally involved. It all felt very shallow and flat. Sorry to say but throwing in some philosophy and giving it some artsy name doesn't make it art.

I understand the approach that was taken in this film, visually its beautiful. I understand how the characters evolve as they do and the direction that you are taken on.

Unfortunately what happens is the obvious; the picturesqueness of the scenery becomes his focal point. He sees everything as a perfect picture and is unwilling to fight for survival. Her inability to deal with his blindness becomes her prison. Neither know how to really fight to survive, both give up before they discover they are really alone and what being alone really means.

To be fair if I were trapped in Iceland and woke up one day the last person on Earth what would I do? I would get a boat and sail to Europe. I would drive to southern France or Italy and spend the rest of my days on the Mediterranean (or go who knows where else). To give up so easily and be carefree while doing it - its depressing and so anti- apocalyptic that its almost unforgivable. Depressing not in the sense that being alone is depressing - but depressing as the writer didn't have the sense on how much things mean anything in the end and that survival can be enough.

If you are alone - and I mean THAT alone - your objectives should be EXTREMELY clear. You must get and maintain: shelter, supplies, and safety. To get sick is to die. To get hurt is to die. To go hungry, cold, trapped, or any other foreseeable thing means you are dead. Love to hate this - hate to love it.

I never write reviews, which says something about this movie. It was awful and boring. Scenery was nice but apart from everyone going missing there was no storyline. And the ending was the worst ever. So anti climactic. Can't get those 90 mins back.

I've been waiting to see this movie for ages. I saw a trailer over a year ago and thought the concept was amazing, two people who might just be the last two people on Earth. Whoa! Unfortunately, the concept is the best thing about this movie. It starts out great, the scene is set (and the scenery is so good it makes me want to visit Iceland!) and although there are hints at what happens, there is no concrete evidence and no one to ask.

The scene is set for an amazing, independent movie to blow your mind with a message of epic proportions! Alas, the message never appears and you sit through an hour and a half of a couple trying to while away the hours waiting for the inevitable.

I SO wanted to love this movie, but it has no point and no conclusion and after watching the movie, you realise that there is actually no reason for making or watching the movie. If there was something that happened, it would have a point, but there isn't.

The most dramatic part of this movie is its colossal failure. The acting is OK, the scenery is fantastic and the build up is great. Sadly, the film goes downhill after the initial 10 minutes until you are finally put out of your misery when the credits roll.

If you want to watch a movie of this ilk, watch The Blue Lagoon instead as it is a similar concept of solitude, but with characters who have depth and strength.

Sorry Bokeh crew, I was rooting for you but it's a poor movie

I had such high hopes for this movie loved the thesis. I dragged my entire family into the playroom one Sunday night to watch this and my mistake was not reading the rating or the reviews beforehand. Suffice to say my movie cred has been dragged way down my making my family suffer through this.

My views of this movie is well said by earlier reviewers with the title "Postapocalyptic boredom" and "post apocalypse without soul" , so won't repeat these reviews.

My conclusion is that there was a fantastically creative person at the Iceland Tourism Bureau, who sponsored this, as the movie was just very bad but made me want to visit Iceland.

I must start this short review with a disclaimer.

I love "end of the world" movies. I also love movies about "solitude", or take place in an environment of extreme "solitude".

These kinds of movies automatically contain endless possibilities for interesting, fascinating situations and behavior.

In this movie, two American tourists wake up one morning while on vacation in Iceland. They find no humans in their motel... or on the street... or in any of the shops... or on any roads. None. No dead bodies, just no humans anywhere. When they check the internet, they notice that no messages on forums or news stories exist after about 3:30am (their time).

At this point, I'm rubbing my hands together because this kind of setup inherently has endless fabulous questions to answer and possibilities. What happened? Where did all the human bodies go? What will they decide to do? Stay in Iceland? Try to find a way to get back to north America? Do they go to a radio or TV station and broadcast a message (continuously on a loop) asking anyone remaining to call them? No. That would make sense (if they want to find other humans).

All they do is wander around looking for other humans for a few days.

Then they do a bit of relaxing and driving around (like on vacation).

The couple are MORONS.

But they are geniuses compared to the screenplay writers! Nothing happens in this movie. They just wander around and repeat endlessly "I don't know what to do".

Almost at the end of the movie, when they go way out into the countryside to relax in a cabin on a lake, they encounter an old man who is still alive... barely.

Why is he barely alive? Who knows. They imply he is dying of thirst, but... give us a break! His home is literally 30 feet from a fresh water lake (and certainly has his own water well, since he is far out in the countryside).

So they give him some water.

A few hours later, he dies.

No reason is given, and in fact it is obvious that no reason exists for him to be sick or ready to die.

There was zero point in finding him... except to make the conclusion of the story INFINITELY STUPID.

Yes. The only real problem the couple has is... the girl is home sick. Never mind that nobody is alive back at home, so there is literally no point in going home anyway.

So the ONLY significance of the old guy they found was... what? It was to show them that OTHER LIVING HUMANS PROBABLY EXIST SOMEWHERE.

And so, what happens next? Does the girl get happy, excited, encouraged that other humans are alive and they can find them? NO.

She kills herself because she is lonely! Just after they find that at least a few other humans exist in the world.

STUPID. STUPID. STUPID. STUPID. STUPID.

She and her boyfriend had a great life. Everything in the world, including all luxury, was theirs to enjoy. And they were in Iceland where geothermal will keep the electricity running without attention for hundreds of years. And even if that didn't work, there were thousands of generators and thousands of gas stations with fuel to power them all over the island.

They had a great life... and she killed herself.

Then... what does the boyfriend do? He just drives away with a glum look on his face while all the credits rolled.

I mean... HOW STUPID.

Sure, he should be sad his moron girlfriend offed herself.

But... they can't just end the movie this way, right? After all, they just discovered there are more humans out there to find.

So please... at least have a twilight zone ending of some kind, right? I mean, maybe he doses off at the wheel then wakes up in bed and finds it was all a dream. Yeah, very lame, but better than NOTHING.

Or maybe all of a sudden all the other humans re-appear... maybe even driving on the road he is driving at the end. But no.

The credits end... the movie ends... that's it.

This really has to be one of the dumbest movies ever made. They could have done endless interesting, fascinating things with the setup in the first 15 minutes of the movie. But they did nothing.

TERRIBLE. 1 out of 10 stars.

The premise of this was excellent, it could have been so good.

Nothing happens! Absolutely nothing. It's boring. Lacks direction. Does not flow well.

Only positives are the locations, Iceland is just gorgeous as always... and that the actual cinematography is pleasant.

I don't write reviews generally, but this just could not pass me by without me being vocal about how annoyed I am that I stuck with it thinking I'd give a rats ass by the end of it.... I really didn't.

Do not waste 90 minutes of your life watching this.

While this wasn't the best sci-fi film I've seen, I think it definitely deserves a higher ranking than most of the reviews here give it, which all seemed to be expecting something more stereotypical.

It is not an action film, nor futuristic. There's no threat to overcome, no adversary to face. It aims for realism, to try and connect the viewer to the characters and make them wonder what THEY would do.

If you're after flashy effects and advanced technology, this isn't a movie for you. It shows genuine reactions from two average people who suddenly find themselves alone in the world with no explanation to what happened or why.

A very good film, but not if you're after a cheap thrill.

Bokeh is not a sci-fi movie! If you are looking for wild special effects, alien interference in human affairs, and the like, watch another movie.

Bokeh is about relationships: relationship to self (how one develops meaning in oneself); relationship to a significant other; relationship to the social world.

Who has not awakened on a trip in a strange bedroom and been deeply disoriented for a period of time? Where am I? Am I alone here? Am I oddly disconnected from everything familiar? What do I do?

What if that period time was not short, but all of the future?

My wife and I viewed this, and paused several times to ask ourselves a central question: what we would do in a similar situation?

We also have been pondering some of the central questions raised in the film:

-- What would we do in a world full of material goods but bereft of human contact?

-- How connected/limited to the past are each of us in our relationships?

-- If there are more than just us, how many more is necessary, sufficient?

-- Can beauty and possibility outweigh loneliness and fear?

-- Is this a story about an "Eden" or a "Hell?"

-- Do we despair at the loss of what has been or imagine what is possible in the new norm?

-- How would our lives change if many of our social constructs were suddenly gone?

-- Would you need to know the reason for the change in order to live beyond it, or is it possible to be existential without despair?

-- Why didn't they visit IKEA? (grin)

Technically the film is well-made: few if any continuity errors, which would have severely diminished the impact of the movie. The sense of isolation AND the sense of the immense beauty of a place that seems closer to the origins of the earth are beautifully portrayed. The twin elements of the oppressive aloneness AND the amazing abundance (fuel tanks with enough for the foreseeable future, stores with everything two would need, fresh water, geo-thermal warmth, etc.) are evident, palpable.

(We wonder where the sheep and puffins have all gone …. however we do get ponies and a singular cat.)

The characters are complex, not just facades: she mourning the death/loss of flowers in the Floral Shop but then romping through the meadow filled with living flowers; he looking beyond the rituals of the past but wanting to complete the burial of the dead. Even Nils in his brief role – why is he dying of thirst next to a pristine freshwater lake?

We will be back to this movie again (and probably again and again) …. we are thinking of having a house party for some like-minded friends to watch it together followed by some discussion and libations. Hoping it will make it to our little island town on the bigger screen.

(disclaimer: the scenes of Iceland (Island) are amazing. I am a lover of Iceland who has traveled there often, so it was a coming-home kind of movie in a way. My wife has been there once, found it a great place for a single visit, and is not as enamored with it. Still, she found the story line and its presentation to be engaging and provocative.)

So, I will start with I love Iceland, best place I have ever been lucky enough to visit. And when I saw the trailer for this movie I had to watch it. The movie had great shots of the locations around Iceland and most of the places I had gone too, it was fun to see.... Thats about all the movie had to offer, they never explain what happened, and the ending was almost upsetting... I would suggest watching something different... If you have been to Iceland it is cool to see the tourist locations but otherwise not worth your time.

I will end with, love the small operations making movies and using less known or up and coming actors, but this one was a bit of a miss... my opinion only

You watch this film hoping for some twist at the end or anything to make watching this movie worth while, but there isn't. There's no point to this movie. I felt like I wasted my time watching this. This had the potential to be a good story (what would you do if everyone disappeared? why would everybody disappear?). None of these questions are answered in a meaningful way.

Don't read if you don't want to know the ending. But don't worry, it's just as boring as the rest. Nothing really happens. Other than a couple finding out that they are the last people on earth. Seems like that revelation should pick up the pace. Nope. They fight over yogurt. Go sight seeing. Take pictures. Ride around on a cart in the grocery store. Try on clothes. Make lattes. The description of this movie made it sound like it had action - don't be fooled. They only thing they were fighting to survive was boredom. I wasn't overly invested in the characters, which turned out to be a good thing, as I was more annoyed than sad when the girl killed herself. The man then proceeded to fall all over her in the mud trying to carry her, and then, after all that, just leaves her behind and drives off. I hear you buddy, I don't really care about her either. In the end he is (maybe) the last person on earth. There may be more people, but why clue us in? Why bother to give this mess a plot? It wasn't really even that artfully done, so there wasn't anything I even enjoyed to make up for all the rest. No, wait, I'll end on a good note, unlike this movie. The scenery was pretty. I think I would like to visit Iceland.

It would appear that the Icelandic tourism board has run out of conventional means of attracting visitors and has resorted to some sort of reverse psychology.

A man and woman from the US visiting Iceland wake up to discover they are the only people left on Earth - or at least that's what they surmise from walking down the street and checking their email inbox. The woman, being religious, concludes that their predicament is the result of divine retribution. The man, being irreligious, is totally unaffected by the loss of his family, friends, or anyone else because you know... irreligious people don't have moral compasses.

The woman expresses some interest in returning home to the US but they scrap that idea because boats are hard to drive. Instead, they decide that the best course of action will be to visit all of Iceland's best tourist destinations and take lots of pictures. Once they get tired of all that, they return to Reykjavik where the man decides to spend his time building some sort of contraption for transporting water from the spring flowing through their backyard to the kitchen sink which appears to be about 10 feet away.

The man, knowing his girlfriend is going through some sort of existential crisis, decides to send her a picture of the miserable Icelandic winter they will soon have to endure. She is so depressed by the prospect that she decides to take her own life. The man searches the entire island of Iceland before finding his girlfriend's body. The movie ends with the man driving down the road distraught and contemplating his situation.

I forgot to mention that somewhere in there they meet an old man... but he's not that important to the plot so he only lives just long enough to deliver some aphorisms about God and the nature of reality.

What was the point of all this? Well, it's about living a life with meaning and... Oh wait, there is no point. Bokeh is just a high budget advertisement for vacationing in Iceland with a pretentious ending that confuses allegory with vagary. The acting is horrendous, the plot is non-existent, and 99% of the shots appear to have been taken straight out of a tourism pamphlet.

I have seen some interesting cinematic and literary iterations of the "wake up as the last person on Earth" plot structure, but this is first time I've seen it reincarnated as a tourism advertisement. The fact that this movie tries to pass itself off as some sort of existential art film is simply insulting.

Be aware because by just ready synopsis, you might believe this movie is a typical American post-apo movie with a love story on top of that, and going into that movie thinking is a "no brain" movie is the worst thing you can do. And that Is why this movie get so much bad notes.

This movie is about what could be the actual reaction of two people if everyone suddenly disappeared. And it's more about what would you think than what would you do.

So that movie is definitely a "with brain" movie. Even though the answer is to be find by yourself.

And the strength of that movie is its capacity to aspire you in that lonely world so you could really feel like your the last one on earth at a certain point.

Of course the movie have some bad approach like I think the beginning is maybe too "comercial", too "much love", but we also have to finance the thing you know.

I would recommend it to anyone who like weird movie as I am. movie like from the Sundance, like "Comet", "another earth", etc...

Don't let the "bored" reviews fool you. This movie is a haunting portrayal of a post-human world and it will have your mind churning throughout the film and long after. What happens when you are the last two people on earth? How about stranded on a foreign island?

Two thoughts --and no spoilers here-- for you to consider in watching this film: 1) what role does water play and 2) how comfortable are you being alone.

The cinematography of this film is stunning. There are several moments when you can picture a moving still shot. Iceland doesn't disappoint and neither do the directors with their eye for beautiful messages through photography.

I highly recommend watching with friends and planning a post-film conversation. I guarantee you'll learn a lot about your friends as you each interpret the actions of the two characters and the way we might each chose to live in a post-human world.

One of the best choices the creators of this film made, was selecting Iceland for the location of their story. Iceland as a majestic country, offers a lot to this film, it is the main source of its power and attractiveness, thanks to the breathtaking landscapes and photography that keep the spectator posted and curious for what comes ahead.

Their..."Bokeh" though is not so successful as for the rest of the film's parts, and photography is not even close enough to making this film go as it should. It seems that there is something missing somewhere in between, something that was essential for the story to be continuous and structural. That awkward emptiness no matter how scary it is, how mysterious and appealing to a sci-fi film, it doesn't seem to convince of its cause and purpose. It is possible that this may be a reflection of the protagonists love story, the void that is there between them, initially unseen by both of them, but later on becomes a realization for her, that doubts, questions and seeks return to her home; her escape, or a form of cowardice? As for him...he keeps on living in his dream world.

So, in the end it felt more like a failed love story, that even in the absence of people, this relationship couldn't be saved. None of both parts wanted to struggle, to truly fight for both of them and that lack of will for salvation passed to our own hearts and minds leaving us alone as well, wondering and wandering.

It is beautiful in scenery and music. But... It lacks so much in human intellect and a fight for survival and does not address the human need to question and find answers. If it addresses this at all is with the suicide of the woman. The man just seems to want to act like nothing is that big of deal. That there is nothing they can do about the situation so they should just get on with enjoying their lives. Maybe if he spent time being more proactive trying to find answers then maybe the woman would have not become so depressed and killed herself. Most humans would have gone looking around at government facilities like the police or the embassies. Most people would try to get home. If you can not fly you can take a boat. Most people would arm themselves. They would keep searching for answers and try to get home. Again the scenery and music were beautiful but it just lacks human intelligence and just leaves you thinking the two characters are really stupid and dense and lack any passion for existence.

No, it's not "thought provoking," unless you just never think. I see no new ground being broken with this effort. It's a meandering, meaningless jumble of mundanity framed as a tourism piece for Iceland. As for the big "event" that comes and goes with no discussion or explanation - further evidence of lazy filmmaking. One could look at this story as a point of departure for some philosophical discussion, ok, but it's still a movie and needs to be compelling and entertaining WITH some kind of satisfying resolution.

A couple wakes up being alone on earth. What are they going to do for an hour and a half? Nothing. Now that I told you the secret you can move on, it's like you already seen this movie. If I wake up alone on this earth too with nothing around me but a TV and this movie on a DVD I would prefer to die of boredom than watch this movie again. One extra star is because of nice scenery and because I watched it at work, not on my own precious time.

The 2 star rating is for stunning Iceland as a backdrop, even if we've seen it all before (Stiller's 'Walter Mitty', among others). And like the temperature much of the year round in Iceland, a sub-zero rating for the horrendously amateur 'performances'. A good, if borrowed idea, wasted on way too many protracted shots of the blonde (I expect she's related to the filmmakers or writers, given the amount of screen time she gets) and the supposed meaning of life, or the possible intervention of something more mysterious.

Throw in some terrible, flat, lifeless and predictable dialogue, the lack of any sense that this couple really did find themselves suddenly alone in the world (racing around an empty supermarket on a trolley, then filling it to overflowing with 'free' stuff off the shelves??) and more. I hung on only to see how it ended, thereby wasting another 40 mins. of my life. Best avoided. Visit Iceland instead.

I had high hopes for this because the premise seemed interesting and it is filmed in Iceland. Maaan was I wrong. This movie is so dull, Matt O'Leary's acting was terrible, Maika Monroe's character was awfully written, there are some major inconsistencies and the characters and their actions are very unrealistic.

It's funny because the reason why I decided to watch Bokeh were the contradicting reviews and low rating. I did not regret it, I really loved this title.

Yes, it is slow paced. I understand why it is not appealing for many. But there are several slow paced titles out there, and I love a lot of them. I love that you can actually start reflecting in yourselves on what just happened in the movie.

And I would not say that the movie is not making a point. (I don't consider it spoiler what I'm about to say, but perhaps you want to first watch the movie and come back to this review after having watched it.) Obviously this is a completely personal interpretation, and has a lot do with who I am and what do I stand for, but I could relate the movie to my personal situation and to the situation of some people around me: sometimes it feels like you are completely alone, but it does not mean you need to give up hope. Keep working, keep doing your thing, and keep looking for people like you. It is never obvious where to look and what to do, but this is real life. This is how you know you are actually living a life and not just being pushed around by "civilization". And remember that sometimes the most you can do for yourself and for others is to simply live your life. That's the biggest teaching for others.

Don't turn away from this movie. Maybe this is exactly what you were looking for... And if not, then I'm sorry, I did not mean to trick you doing anything you did not want to. :-)

Bokeh starts with a young couple, Jenai (The Guest's Maika Monroe) and Riley (Matt O'Leary), on vacation in Iceland, where they make out under waterfalls, soak in hot springs, and drink in the scenery on walking tours. Then, just a few minutes into the film, a mysterious green light pulses in the night sky, and Jenai and Riley wake up to discover that everyone else is gone, and they're alone in Reykjavik. apocalypse stories let us revel in the idea of replacing all the burdens of modern society with simpler, more visceral problems, like avoiding zombie bites or fighting off road-warrior gangs. But most apocalypses keep the survivors pretty busy. There's some powerful emotional impact in the idea that this extreme situation pushes them both to their own extremes, stripping away their personalities until they each reach a basic level. But in practice, since they come from such a tabular rasa starting point, it's hard to track whether Riley and Jenai are really changing as people.It's not important why everyone disappeared; what's important is which emotions the characters foreground for themselves, as they embrace their new circumstances. There's a lot of fantasy in the usual end-of-the-world scenarios, but there's a lot of horror there as well. Bokeh asks which of those reactions is more appropriate, and how they both play out. It's a gentle story, as apocalypses go, but even without monsters, it becomes a painful, emotional question of strength and survival.

I am a big fan of "end of the world" stories but this movie disappointed me in a big way. Nothing interesting happens in this movie, the characters are impossible to like or care about and the ending is... unsatisfying, to say the least. I would recommend you watch your oven pre-heating over watching this movie.

I have awarded 2 stars since Maika Monroe is quite attractive.