By Stefan Moon

I just want to get this said right now, but this is one of the best films of the 2010s. Of course many don't like this (check out Emily Holland's review on her Instagram to see her passionate negativity for it which is brilliantly written), but I was in the love it category. It follows Monte (Robert Pattinson), a death row inmate that has been placed onto a large rectangular shaped ship, which orbits all around space. At first, we see him care for his infant daughter. We are also shown the character Dibs, who is played by Juliette Binoche to chilling effect. She conducts many different sexual experiments throughout, involving artificial insemination, as she tries to have life be created. And with these experiments, come some rather shocking depictions of rape, and it's depictions of violence. But that's what actually excels this film's intentions. These are prisoners. And we all know, that in prisons, there is this man-versus-man ideology which has become far too normalised, and it leads to rape and terrible acts of violence unleashed on prisoners. Because sure, some of this is ridiculous in context of a sci-fi film, but when you look at it in a real world perspective, Denis' portrayal isn't always far from the truth. The way sexual desires are approached is interesting, especially in a space setting. Juliette Binoche rides a metal dildo in a small room called a "Fuckbox" and other prisoners use the same device to fulfil their sexual desires, and the emptiness of the themes of sex in this film are incredibly strong in the real world. But MY GOD what was with the large use of semen in the film? I'm saying it right now, this film has more semen than any other film in the past few years. I don't know why it was used so frequently, was it intended as an analogy for life? It's somewhat silly, but I don't feel it takes away from the otherwise unnerving and terrifying feeling which is gained from the film itself. The film (as you can probably tell), primarily uses sex and violence with depicting different things, whether it be fulfilling sexual desires, or the human treatment of others through different contexts of violence. And I feel that this film takes a brutally honest look at our world, with violence currently being so rampant in society, people fulfilling their taboos, and the way Claire Denis tackles this is something not many filmmakers can do. She doesn't just show us things happening out on the sidewalk like most filmmakers would, but shows it in an entirely different landscape, which is is small ship orbiting space. And it is an act of brilliance by her, and proves her as one of the more interesting filmmakers out there. In conclusion, High Life is a terrifying look into human identity, and it's depictions of sex and violence are still sure to generate discussion for many years to come. Be prepared to see this on my best of the decade list.

5/5.