I think if I was oblivious and dgaf about animals like Ellen, I probably would have liked this movie a lot. But since I do gaf, I'm really conflicted. I'm left with the impression that Marais has never actually met a group of animal rights activists before because real ones would never do some of the things the fictional ones in At Ellen's Age do.

For example, animal rights activists would never rescue chickens on their way to a slaughterhouse and just release them right there on the road. The chickens would be completely unable to protect themselves from predators, they could be easily seen by anyone on the road and recaptured, and they aren't in an environment in which…

Film #248 in MY YEAR OF MUBI

***

Such a mixture of tones.

Part wacky, part dramatic, part poignant, part goofball, part meaningful and part meaningless. It really runs the gamut.

Ultimately, the story follows the troubled life of Ellen (played wonderfully by Jeanne Balibar) as she drifts from one bad situation to the next. Through a series of self-created tribulations, Ellen finds herself out of work, out of love, out of a home, out of money and out of meaning for her life.

Then she works very, very hard to try to coast through and get all of these things back. To varying degrees of success and failure.

Her adventures (or misadventures is probably a better term) are fun…

I think if I was oblivious and dgaf about animals like Ellen, I probably would have liked this movie a lot. But since I do gaf, I'm really conflicted. I'm left with the impression that Marais has never actually met a group of animal rights activists before because real ones would never do some of the things the fictional ones in At Ellen's Age do.

For example, animal rights activists would never rescue chickens on their way to a slaughterhouse and just release them right there on the road. The chickens would be completely unable to protect themselves from predators, they could be easily seen by anyone on the road and recaptured, and they aren't in an environment in which…

At Ellen's Age is an atypical midlife crisis drama, a portrait of a woman at a personal, professional, and existential crossroads that offers no viable paths toward contentment. What's interesting -- and perhaps frustrating -- about the film is how writer/director Pia Marais staunchly aligns us with Ellen's subjective experience, yet still elides a great deal of what would generally be considered narratively pertinent perspectival information. I don't believe this is a flaw in the filmmaking; Ellen, a flight attendant, is a woman perpetually displaced, unanchored and yet bound, caged in motion, and the elisions and omissions effectively unmoor the audience from any sense of reasoned intent and allow us to experience the narrative as Ellen does: a series of escalating…

Film #248 in MY YEAR OF MUBI

***

Such a mixture of tones.

Part wacky, part dramatic, part poignant, part goofball, part meaningful and part meaningless. It really runs the gamut.

Ultimately, the story follows the troubled life of Ellen (played wonderfully by Jeanne Balibar) as she drifts from one bad situation to the next. Through a series of self-created tribulations, Ellen finds herself out of work, out of love, out of a home, out of money and out of meaning for her life.

Then she works very, very hard to try to coast through and get all of these things back. To varying degrees of success and failure.

Her adventures (or misadventures is probably a better term) are fun…