Claire Denis‘ "High Life" had an underwhelming world premiere at the Roy Thomson Hall during the Toronto Film Festival, for which I attended. Around half the audience had already left the theater by the time the film ended, you could just tell nobody was into it. And this is coming from a fest that prides itself in having the best audience in the world. Even Toronto audiences couldn't deal with the metaphorical artsy ambitions that were unfurling on-screen. And I don't mean that as a detraction of Denis' mad ambitions in "High Life," which, by all accounts, warrants a repeat viewing on my part. For now, I'll refrain from reviewing "High Life," until I watch it a second time, but Denis will have her widest audience ever for this sci-fi film, which has her working with the biggest budget of her career and stars Robert Pattinson. And by sci-fi I don't mean something akin to Christopher Nolan, this is Claire Denis after all, she makes personal films that are all but impenetrable for mainstream moviegoers.
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The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.