valley of the gods movie review

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Of all the films this year that have been forced by circumstances to make their debuts via home video and streaming services, I can't think of one that I would've rather seen in a theater than “Valley of the Gods.” This is partly because it is indeed a large-scale drama with a grand visual sweep that presumably needs a big screen to be properly appreciated. However, the real reason I wish that I could have seen it in a theater is to be able to see the faces of the other audience members once the end credits started rolling. My guess is that their facial expressions would greatly resemble those of the first night crowd for “Springtime for Hitler” at the end of the opening number. This is a movie so strange, bizarre and so unclassifiable that as soon as I was done watching it, I contacted my editor to see if deploying the phrase “batshit crazy” would be acceptable. It was approved but I have decided not to employ it on the basis that even that description undersells the experience.

As the film opens, a man ( Josh Hartnett ) arrives at the Valley of the Gods, an area of southeastern Utah near Monument Valley where the spirits of Navajo Indian deities are said to reside within the enormous stones on display. The man pulls a desk out of the back of his car and begins writing, in longhand, of course. In due time, we learn that he is John Ecas, an advertising copywriter whose life has collapsed since his wife ( Jaime Ray Newman ) left him, evidently for her hang gliding instructor. His therapist ( John Rhys-Davies ) suggests that the best way for John to cut through all the absurdity that he sees in the world is to beat it at its own game by doing things that are even crazier—climbing up a mountain face while dragging all of his pots and pans with him or walking the streets both backwards and blindfolded. Having accomplished those feats, John has now decided to write the novel that he has always dreamed of penning and while I cannot be 100% sure, it is implied that most of the rest of the film is a visualization of what he is creating.

This eventually introduces us to Wes Tauros, the richest man in the world, and rumored to have gone mute following a personal tragedy. He is played by John Malkovich , who is not exactly the first person one might think of to play a mute. Anyway, he's in the midst of closing a deal to acquire the mineral rights to the Valley of the Gods in order to mine for uranium, a move that divides the Navajos still living there between those who want the money that they will receive as part of the deal and those upset that the development of the land will desecrate what they consider to be holy ground. Eventually, John turns up at Tauros’ super-lavish estate in order to write the man’s biography but discovers things that are peculiar, even by the standards of a character played by John Malkovich.

By most critical standards, “Valley of the Gods” is a film that starts off as being fairly berserk and quickly becomes frothing mad. It feels as though writer/director Lech Majewski had a marathon of the films of Terrence Malick and the recent works of Wim Wenders and decided to try to make something that would combine the two, minus the lucid plotting. The narrative, which unfolds via a prologue and ten separate chapter headings, is, to put it charitably, a mess. The various plot threads involving the rich man, the tormented writer, and the Navajos are largely inscrutable and they do not so much weave together towards the end as much as they clumsily crash into each other. Too often, Majewski abandons them entirely to go off onto strange tangents that range from Tauros catapulting a luxury car over a cliff vis some dubious effects work, to the scenes in which Keir Dullea turns up as the rich man’s spectral butler. (This may indeed be the most bewildering film that Dullea has ever appeared in and you know what his most famous credit is.) Then there is Bérénice Marlohe , who turns up in the world’s stretchiest limousine but otherwise does nothing but get a makeover and appear in what is only the film’s third most ridiculous sex scene. (The winner, FYI, is the bewildering sequence where one of the Navajos climbs up a giant rock formation and, uh, has sex with it.)

So yeah, the movie doesn’t “work,” as they say. And yet, even though it pretty much goes off the rails right from the start, never to return, I never quite minded. The film may be nuts but it certainly isn’t boring and there is never a moment where you feel the plot gears grinding away—this is definitely a movie that moves to the beat of a different drummer, even when it seems as if the drummer in question is Keith Moon . Additionally, it has a formal beauty to it that can't be denied and which is frequently ravishing to behold—there are times when you just want to sit back and let the whole thing just wash one you. I also admired the willingness of actors like Hartnett and Malkovich to go way out on an artistic limb by taking part in it.

“Valley of the Gods” is a film that most people may find to be, at best, wildly uneven and frequently ridiculous and I cannot disagree with those assertions. However, I am still kind of happy that I saw it and I know that there are things in it that I will remember long after most of the more conventional movies of late have faded away. If you are someone who has in the past embraced such wonderfully unrestrained and seemingly foolhardy cinematic visions as Emir Kusturica ’s “ Arizona Dream ” (1994), Richard Kelly ’s “ Southland Tales ” (2006) or the Werner Herzog title of your choice, you might want to check this one out for yourself. If you do, be sure to stick it out for the jaw-dropping finale in which ... well, you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. 

Now available on digital platforms.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around  bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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Valley of the Gods (2020)

Josh Hartnett as John Ecas

Bérénice Marlohe as Karen Kitson

John Malkovich as Wes Tauros

John Rhys-Davies as Dr. Hermann

Charlotte Rampling as Amanda Joyce

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Valley of the Gods (2019)

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Valley of the Gods Reviews

Director Majewski's visually lush film, while imaginative, is awful.

Full Review | Aug 13, 2020

The film may be nuts but it certainly isn't boring.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 11, 2020

There is an obvious admiration of the Navajo and a clear disdain for the wealthy, except that's really all that Valley contains as the rest is so mired in trying to be lofty that it loses the forest for the trees.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 8, 2020

Valley of the Gods Review: An Art House Film With Lynchian Vibes

Release date: August 11, 2020 Running time: 126 minutes Starring:   Josh Hartnett, Bérénice Marlohe, Jaime Ray Newman, John Malkovich

Review can first be seen at WatchorPass.com

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Valley of the gods.

Directed by Lech Majewski

A mix of fantasy and sci-fi, the film entwines Navajo lore with a reclusive trillionaire and his would-be biographer, creating a fascinating, mysterious and idiosyncratic vision of America.

Josh Hartnett Bérénice Marlohe John Malkovich John Rhys-Davies Charlotte Rampling Jaime Ray Newman Keir Dullea Joseph Runningfox Steven Skyler Owee Rae Saginaw Grant Tokala Black Elk Cris D'Annunzio Marek Probosz Ewa Majcherczyk Katarzyna Kurylońska

Director Director

Lech Majewski

Producers Producers

Lech Majewski Filip Jan Rymsza Marek Żydowicz Daniel Markowicz Piotr Galon

Writer Writer

Editor editor.

Norbert Rudzik

Cinematography Cinematography

Paweł Tybora

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Natalia Safran

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Daniel Markowicz

Stunts Stunts

Whitney Coleman

Composer Composer

Jan A. P. Kaczmarek

Sound Sound

Zbigniew Malecki

Angelus Silesius Lightcraft

Italy Poland Luxembourg USA

Releases by Date

17 sep 2019, 05 oct 2020, 17 sep 2020, 20 jan 2022, 04 oct 2021, releases by country, netherlands.

• Premiere 16 Gdynia Polish Film Festival

Russian Federation

• Premiere Moscow International Film Festival

South Korea

• Theatrical 15

131 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by MaximusSol ★★★★

An absurdly original and densely impenetrable art installation masquerading as a narrative film that most viewers will either vehemently hate or "sorta like" while acknowledging its many faults, Valley of the Gods is a perplexing, confounding, and deeply evocative piece of dreamwork that probably should just be running on a loop at your local modern art museum.

On paper, this weird and underseen flick (only 85 reviews on Letterboxd as of today) is about a writer (Josh Hartnett) on the outs of his marriage who retreats to the American Southwest to find solace through writing, and along the way experiences a glimpse into the lifestyle of reclusive  trillionaire Wes Tauros (Westeros, anyone?) played by John Malkovich, who's in the midst of…

Review by Nick Newman

Before the screening Josh Hartnett revealed he was missing the birth of his child to be present. I hope he feels it was worth his time.

Review by Evan “Kaizō Haya-shill” Pincus ★★★ 1

Hell if I know, man. Gonzo but ponderous outsider take on the Desert Southwest, like a Matthew Barney fan film. Majewski seems to have a unique skill set for telling stories in extremely weird ways, but I don’t think this translates to a knack for actually doing the telling. Whatever, Malkovich catapults a car off of a cliff, there’s a snake limo, dude fucks a rock. Weird.

Review by Puffin ★★★ 2

i.imgur.com/W9OMmSM.jpg

Review by remdwgakahooey ★★★★

I appreciate the stupid arthouse surrealism gusto this runs on throughout the film, including captplatuing cars, a giant baby and a really long limo and this is unironcally shot super well as well. Porbably too long at 2 hours doe idk.

Review by My God's kitten ★★½

A bit of a jumbled mess with some neat surreality. I wonder if I would have got more out of the plotline if I knew more about Navajo culture. Not a total waste, some good moments here and there and Josh Hartnett and John Malkovich doing the best they could with the material, it just needed more work to make sense and flow better. The trillionaire mansion with a billion statues up in the clouds was pretty awesome!

Review by Allen Chodakowski ★ 4

One star for Joseph Runningfox’s performance, some Navajo mythology, Malkovich playing Malkovich, and seeing Keir Dullea for the first time since 2001. Everything else was rubbish.

Review by foxman ★★★

couldn't decide if I should give this one or five stars, so I gave 3. The metaphors in this film are a bit stupid, especially in the end. But some scenes are so absurd and stupid they are fascinating again. A car shot in a catapult, a boxer and a ballerina in cages, a snake limo, rock sex, a rock baby and much more. One star if Majewski was serious, five if it's a parody.

Review by benly cowbe ★★★★★

capitalism is the easiest way to create false gods...

partly a film filled with primitive metaphors... but a rather rare type of film-philosophical essay... of the type Cosmopolis/The Zero Theorem/Holy Motors...

an underestimated movie... and I can see why... the film is very badly made... but it's excellent in its conception...

Review by Manhut ½

It took me a while to process and think of a way to describe this movie in an orderly fashion. There are very soft spoilers but it doesn't matter for this film anyway. Let's start with the first thing that I noticed during the movie I saw this in a room with about 30 people, it was a sold-out show. after about 30 minutes, 1 person left. This is the first time I've actually seen people walk out of the theater. After 45 minutes, another 3 people left. In retrospect I envy these people so much. After 50 minutes, 1 of the people who previously left came back with beers for her and her partner, they probably realized what they…

Review by suttercain ★★

I like incomprehensible nonsense and ambiguity more than most, but those impulses need the tightest focus and direction, not the loosest. In many ways, a superhero film directs itself, but a tightrope balance feat like this requires excellence and precision that are not represented in the finished project.

Review by joshrowley ★★

Bizarre; curious; head-scratching; interesting; nonsensical; overlong; scenic; surreal; weird.

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Home › Recommendation › Home Release › Lech Majewski’s “Valley of the Gods” possesses high concepts which never coalesce.

Lech Majewski’s “Valley of the Gods” possesses high concepts which never coalesce.

By Douglas Davidson on August 8, 2020 • ( 6 )

There is, perhaps, nothing more frustrating for a cinephile than to finish a film wherein the pieces are stronger than the whole. Where you can understand the intent of a project, yet, whether by style, structure, or some other technical portion, it just doesn’t coalesce into the evocative art it so desperately seeks to be. This is the case with writer/director Lech Majewski’s ( The Mill and the Cross ) frustrating Valley of the Gods , hitting home video after spending Fall 2019 on the festival circuit. Feeling like a cross between Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and pick a David Lynch project, Valley of the Gods is an exploration of love, wealth, faith, loneliness, and consumerism told primarily through the lens of Navajo legends across 10 chapters and a prologue. The end result is something fantastical and wondrous, yet leaves the audience absolutely disoriented due to a lack of clear focus and structure.

Josh Hartnett as John Ecas in VALLEY OF THE GODS.

Reeling from a sudden divorce, writer John Ecas (Josh Hartnett) drives into Monument Valley Tribal Park and sets about writing the novel he swore he would always draft. Unbeknownst to John, the land he treads upon is sacred and undergoing a dispute between trillionaire industrialist Wes Tauros (John Malkovich), who wishes to mine the land for minerals, and the local Navajo tribe. As the three parties come to collide, notions of what’s truly valuable come into play as the gods of old come to wage war against the desires of modern man.

Joseph Runningfox as Third Eye in VALLEY OF THE GODS.

One cannot watch Valley without understanding that Majewski has a vision. He manages to capture the majesty of nature with incredible reverence and the grotesque absurdity of opulence in equal measure. He shoots Monument Valley with the deftness of a nature documentary, making either wide shots or close-ups feel extraordinary, as though the audience is being transported to places filled with magical energy. Most importantly, the bulk of Valley is told from the perspective of the Navajo, highlighting the real violations of the American government and global consumerism on the people who live within America’s borders. There is an obvious admiration of the Navajo and a clear disdain for the wealthy, except that’s really all that Valley contains as the rest is so mired in trying to be lofty that it loses the forest for the trees.

Let’s start by looking at Hartnett’s Ecas. He’s the first character we meet, depicted as driving through the night to an unknown location. He’s either lost or wandering, but we know he’s uncertain of his surroundings when he opts to sleep in his car versus seeking a room at a nearby motel. He is the character the audience begins with and it’s his story that the film ends with, yet Valley is not his story. Even when he pulls an antique desk from the back of his SUV and begins to write against the backdrop of the park, this is not his story. Not even slightly. The story really belongs to a group of people more or less led by the second person we meet, Third Eye (Joseph Runningfox), a character who goes unnamed beyond “grandfather” for the entirety of the film. The park, or portions of it featured in the film, harbors the true central narrative and its core characters — Third Eye, Grey Horse (Steven Skyler), Bird Face (John A. Lorenz), and Sweet Water (Owee Rae) — are aren’t just in opposition to Tauros’s bid to own their land, but suffer the indignities of sterilization and other illnesses as a result of excavation already under way. The audience is given glimpses of this struggle, the pain and frustration, throughout the 10 chapters, except it’s difficult to trace what action takes place when in the whole of the film because Majewski opts for a non-linear structure. One may even wonder, due to Majewski’s focus on Ecas as a writer, that the story which unfolds involving Tauros and the strange deviation which includes Bérénice Marlohe’s Karen Kitson, and much of what transpires outside of Third Eye and his people, is entirely fictional, a story dreamt up by Ecas as he purges his anger and frustration of lost love in concert with increased exposure to nature without protection. Using Ecas enables Majewski the flexibility to tie Tauros more directly into the film proper and to more smoothly integrate moments for the exploration of avarice. Beyond this, Ecas is, by and large, unimportant to the narrative yet is treated as the all-important bookends.

Bérénice Marlohe as Karen Kitson in VALLEY OF THE GODS.

The inclusion of Navajo culture as shown by members of the community is a huge deal and treated as such by the film itself. Truly, if the film held fast to Third Eye and his people, perhaps even offered more explanation for those unfamiliar with the culture and community, then there’d be a chance that Valley would possess a more singular focus and pull the audience in further into the narrative. Yet, Valley loses all focus when it deviates from them and onto Ecas. This is not the fault of Hartnett, who does the best he can with what he has, but of the structure and style of the narrative. In the 19-minute “Making Of” featurette, Harnett expresses how Majewski understood what he wanted Valley to be in pre-production, but took a more fluid approach on-set. Given how free from restraint the narrative feels, focused more on emphasizing landscapes and capturing mood over structure, there’s certainly an impressionistic air about Valley , a feeling of trying to evoke emotion from the audience without being as interested in offering any grounding elements. Except this fluidity is obstructed by Valley ’s own insistence that everything possesses magnanimous meaning. This somehow explains why Tauros would want to build a catapult based off an unused Leonardo da Vinci design so that he could chuck a vintage car off his mountaintop property for the amusement of his guests. Is it a statement on the vulgarity of wealth? Is it intended as a provocation related to the meaninglessness of money when you can afford anything? It’s a question that lingers until the next truly bizarre thing Tauros does, which, coming back to Ecas, seems to go entirely without reaction or recourse. That is, until Third Eye and his people take part in a ritual that’s slowly built toward for much of the film. It’s one which seems outlandish on its own, but, taken in kind with other elements of Valley , seems to be the only manner in which to resolve Valley .

John Malkovich as Wes Tauros in VALLEY OF THE GODS.

Valley of the Gods is the kind of film you’ll root for, even as it seems to be utterly disinterested in whether its audience remains engaged. It introduces characters like Kitson who seems to have a larger purpose, but are largely abandoned because reasons. Similarly, Keir Dullea’s ( 2001: A Space Odyssey ) Ulim, Tauros’s butler, mainly provides exposition and creepy companionship but not much else. Yet even as Valley seems intent on pushing the audience further away (ever wanted to watch someone have sex with a rock?), you’ll find yourself perplexed and sticking with it, presuming that something, somehow, will make sense by the end. Sadly, you’re left with more questions than answers and not even the “Making Of” featurette will clear anything up.

Valley of the Gods Special Features

• Making Of (19:15)
• Three (3) Preview Trailers
• One (1) Trailer

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital August 11 th , 2020.

For more information, head to the official Valley of the Gods website.

Final Score: 2 out of 5.

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Categories: Home Release , Home Video , Recommendation , Reviews , streaming

Tags: Bérénice Marlohe , drama , home release , home video , John A. Lorenz , John Malkovich , Joseph Runningfox , Josh Hartnett , Keir Dullea , Lech Majewski , Owee Rae , Steven Skyler , streaming , Valley of the Gods , Well Go USA

You should know that “disinterested” does not mean “uninterested”…

Thank you for taking the time to read the review and for commenting. We truly appreciate the engagement. According to Merriam-Webster, one of the meanings of “disinterested” is “not having the mind or feelings engaged (see ENGAGED sense 1) : not interested,” while a general definition shows it as “having or feeling no interest in something.” Either of which fit within the scope of usage within the review. Evidentially the etymology of “disinterested” is quite complex. Had no idea until you brought this up. Fascinating!

I just finished watching the movie. Had to force myself to the end but kept giving it the benefit of doubt. Really liked the Douglas Davidson review.

My love of independent and small films has grown even more after witnessing such waste.

Great art doesn’t always spoon feed the partaker of said art. Much great art is always seen but forever unknown to the ‘consumer’. I find it distasteful that an artist would have to explain anything to the western mind. You can’t educate the west they already know everything. You allude to nearby hotels on a two lane in the middle of nowhere as a given. You’ve obviously never driven through these regions and are, hence, disqualified from rendering a verdict on anything. Stick to critiquing jock straps in NYC. I am being nice.

Thank you taking the time to read the review and reply. Amusingly, I grew up in rural Virginia and not New York state. Additionally, the point being made has to do with the way the character is presented, not the space he’s in. Choosing to have the character sleep in their car says a great deal about them (hotels available or not). This choice by the writer/director helps to communicate Ecas’s lack of awareness, which is a specific choice and one that doesn’t need explaining beyond what we’re given, so I’m not sure what your specific issue is here. My point is that the film isn’t his story, even if he’s the entry and exit point for the film.

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Valley of the Gods

Where to Watch

Josh Hartnett (John Ecas) John Malkovich (Wes Tauros) Bérénice Marlohe (Karen Kitson) Keir Dullea (Ulim) John Rhys-Davies (Dr. Hermann) Jaime Ray Newman (Laura Ecas) Joseph Runningfox (Third Eye) Steven Skyler (Grey Horse) John A. Lorenz (Bird Face) Owee Rae (Sweet Grass)

Lech Majewski

Entwines Navajo lore with a reclusive trillionaire and his would-be biographer, creating a fascinating, mysterious and idiosyncratic vision of America.

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'Valley of the Gods' Review: Josh Hartnett and John Malkovich's performance fails to save the unrealistic plot

Spoilers for 'Valley of the Gods'

Lech Majewski's latest movie, 'Valley of the Gods', starring Josh Hartnett and John Malkovich is quite an experience with its brilliant visuals and heavy use of allegory. However, the film isn't for everybody, with its surrealism often overpowering the narrative.

'Valley of the Gods' has an almost disjointed feel to it. A lot of things happen that give one an eerie sense of unreality but the movie touches so lightly on the plot that it is never clear how these things are happening or for what purpose. However, what the movie does deliver is a couple of brilliant landscapes, alternating between an opulent castle and the harsh landscapes of the western United States. If nothing else, the movie will give you a deep desire to go experience those very real places and find some of that surreal beauty for yourself. Unfortunately, we're not going anywhere with the Covid-19 pandemic still going strong so even that ends up being a frustrating feeling. In the end, that's what the movie leaves us feeling, extremely frustrated.

There are so many scenes of rituals (including one that involves catapulting a car off a mountain) that just happen for no rhyme or reason. The Navajo mythology, which is an intricate narrative, to begin with, is depicted in a complex, mystical way that leaves the audience feeling a little confused. It would take a very particular mood and state of mind for the viewer to truly enjoy this film. And that's despite the brilliance of the cast.

Josh Hartnett really pours himself into the role of a divorced writer who has taken a decision to embrace the absurd things in life. He feels almost like he's been ripped out of the pages of an Albert Camus story, actively doing ridiculous things like walking backward wearing a blindfold and taking up a job writing the biography of the world's richest man, a trillionaire named Wes Tauros played by John Malkovich.

Malkovich doesn't really get to express the full extent of his abilities as an actor, mostly because his character is almost always in the middle of something so fantastical that it drowns out every other element of the story. And that's basically the problem with the movie. There's something great and artistic hinted at here but Majewski has chosen to rely more on his thematic and allegorical devices than the actors at his disposal. The movie is almost like a painting but then we're not trying to watch a painting are we? The necessary elements of dialogue and coherent narrative barely make an appearance and it, unfortunately, leaves one feeling if it was really worth the time it took to watch it.

'Valley of the Gods' is available via video-on-demand.

Reviews by someone who's seen the movie

Valley of the Gods

Valley of the Gods . What the hell was that? At around an hour in, Lech Majewski’s film starts to look like it’s developing a plot. But until then it’s been a series of scenes/scenarios/situations that don’t seem to be very connected at all.

In one we meet John (Josh Hartnett), a would-be writer trying to hash something out in the desert where the spirit of the Navajo are said to roam. In another a mute beggar on the street called Wes Tauros (John Malkovich), that rare thing – a beggar with a butler (Keir Dullea). Tauros is in fact not a beggar but the richest man in the world. In another a man called Tall Bitter Water, a spokesman for his fellow Native Americans anxious that his people come out at the right end of a deal currently being brokered by a company that wants to extract uranium from their land. And in another Karen Kitson (Bérénice Marlohe), a woman being sculpted into a facsimile of the rich man’s dead wife by a team of beauticians.

Things start to coalesce after the writer has a massive flame-out and winds up seeing a shrink (John Rhys-Davies), who suggests John start doing random things in an attempt to break his creative logjam. Which explains why John is next spotted bouldering out in the desert with all the pots and pans from his kitchen dangling beneath him on a rope. And why he is later walking blindfold backwards through a city street, where he narrowly escapes being knocked over by the same car as recently ran over the beggar/rich man, who is at this point sitting cross legged nearby and watching John’s progress.

John might have been called on to write Tauros’s biography, or what we’re watching might be the outpouring of his unblocked creativity, it isn’t really certain, but shots cutting back regularly to a furiously scribbling John out in the desert, shirtless, suggest something along those lines. The fact that Keir Dullea is in it, star of 2001: A Space Odyssey , immediately suggests Kubrick, and there is that definite detachment you get in a Kubrick film, though Majewski also has Paolo Sorrentino in his sights. This is a ravishing looking film with an operatic ambience, in other words, the cinematography (by Majewski and co-DP Pawel Tybora) making it worth a look alone.

Lovers of plot, forget it, this isn’t that sort of film. At one point a Rolls Royce Phantom V is launched into the night from a catapult made from drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci – that’s how rich Tauros is, and how rabid Majewski’s imagination.

For Malkovich all this sort of madcappery is business as usual, but for Hartnett it seems to be a dip back in the direction of the oddball films – like Lucky Number Slevin and I Come with the Rain – that he started appearing in after deciding not to take the executive elevator to the Brad Pitt Suite made available after the likes of actioner Black Hawk Down and romcom 40 Days and 40 Nights .

Majewski is a self-consciously arthouse director and everyone in this movie speaks in an arthouse movie way. Conversations never flow and consist mostly of non sequiturs. All apart from the Navajo, the only people who act and behave like rational human beings throughout. The land the uranium company wants to buy is called The Valley of the Gods, so it is their film, in a way.

“Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow,” quipped Noel Coward acidly when he saw the hot new talent on the set of 1965’s Bunny Lake Is Missing , but it’s Dullea who has the last laugh in this film. Almost. That privilege will probably go to the viewer who gets to the end, only to be confronted by a completely random shot of a giant baby stomping through the city and laying it waste. What the hell!

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Valley of the Gods

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Blu-ray Review: “Valley Of The Gods” Makes No Damn Sense

“Valley of the Gods” contrasts abundance and poverty through three separate storylines, featuring a middle-class writer, an eccentric trillionaire, and a struggling Navajo community. Post-divorce, copywriter John Ecas undertakes the biography of the richest man on earth, who is dead-set on mining sacred lands for uranium. When modern advance runs afoul of long-dormant guardians from ancient legend, even the most unimaginable wealth may soon meet its match.

I have done so much research. I don’t WANT to dislike a movie. I work desperately to avoid disliking something. “Valley of the Gods” is the first movie in a long time I have desperately disliked. Between its clumsy plotting and vaguely intertwined narratives, the whole project feels slow to the point of burdensome and extremely disconnected in general. Director Lech Majewski seems to lean on visual allegory and weaves in Navajo folklore surrounding a very real and majestic place to say something to the audience, but he compounds his message so densely among bizarre displays of opulent wealth (or staggering poverty) that it feels either distractingly dense or too nuanced. I’d imagine a second viewing might help the audience decipher Majewski’s message but I can’t imagine a scenario to convince me to watch this again. “Valley of the Gods” works too desperately in metaphor, devoid of narrative, to successfully entice the audience and loses lots of steam before coming to an utterly bizarre ending.

The movie follows three tales: the world’s richest man, a depressed assigned to write his biography, and the local Navajo tribe dealing with the aforementioned rich man buying their land for mineral use. These tales weave only briefly and hardly at all. Not for lack of trying but the film’s preference for atmosphere eats up the runtime normally reserved for actual dialogue. When we are hoping a new scene might clarify the narrative thread we are granted only the most cursory insight.

A great example: Josh Hartnett’s character plays a writer who, we learn, is going through a rough divorce. He’s taking it personally and his therapist convinces him to “embrace the absurd.” So Josh Hartnett goes on a mission to practice absurd and ridiculous things. He climbs a hill with pots and pans tied to his feet. He walks backward, blindfolded. This challenge of writing a biography falls within that purview. TO what end? We are given little narrative arc or conclusion other than he drives to the foot of a Navajo sacred mountain and begins writing. Assumedly he conjures up a mountain baby that stomps through Los Angeles destroying everything in its wake. Is Josh Hartnett’s character a God bringing to life the Navajo mythology hinted at throughout the course of the movie? Or did the Navajo tribe summon the rock baby?

Ultimately, the few things that do work are its lush settings: opulent European palaces with marble statues contrast sharply with the harsh American west pained in rose gold hues throughout the day. If anything, this movie made me want to travel out west and see some of this topography for myself. I can’t say I’d be curious to learn more about the production of the film, however. It uses cheap special effects (something I normally forgive) for what seems like no reason. In one scene, John Malkovich catapults an expensive car off a mountain as part of some ritual. There are so many instances of events happening without context that do not become clearer. The three timelines do not really meet and so provide little context for each other.

The movie feels like a travesty. After my initial first twenty minutes, my interest waned. It declined so much that I actually stopped procrastinating and started working. I wanted to like this movie but given how sophomoric it felt I delayed reviewing it for as long as possible. I wish I had more to go off of, but this movie feels like a genuine time suck. Skip this movie and watch anything else instead.

Available on Blu-ray™, DVD & Digital August 11th

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I love this movie!

Can we talk about how Majewski utterly ripped Sorrentino throughout this film? I mean, this is so blatant it’s essentially plagiarizing Sorrentino. It enraged me to watch–I can only imagine how Sorrentino himself must feel. Completely derivative.

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Valley Of The Gods

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• Who are the actors in 'Valley Of The Gods'? 'Valley Of The Gods' star cast includes Josh Hartnett, Berenice Marlohe, John Malkovich and John Rhys Davies.
• Who is the director of 'Valley Of The Gods'? 'Valley Of The Gods' is directed by Lech Majewski.
• What is Genre of 'Valley Of The Gods'? 'Valley Of The Gods' belongs to 'Drama' genre.
• In Which Languages is 'Valley Of The Gods' releasing? 'Valley Of The Gods' is releasing in English.

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‘The Keep Going Songs’ Review: Vexed by Grief and Worried About the Planet

Abigail and Shaun Bengson muse on death in their latest work, but its looseness makes it hard to get a handle on.

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By Laura Collins-Hughes

Not a lot of Lincoln Center Theater shows call for setting the preperformance mood with the Grateful Dead, but when “Uncle John’s Band” came over the speakers the other evening before the Bengsons took the stage, it was such an ideal match for their crunchy, mellow, kindhearted, folk-rock vibe that I had to smile.

In Abigail and Shaun Bengson’s “ The Keep Going Songs ,” though, it’s the dead with a lowercase “d” who are integral. This married couple of music-makers, known for shaggy, melodic, autobiographically inspired theater, wanted to create what they call “a concert. That’s also a wake.”

Directed by Caitlin Sullivan for LCT3 , the show is a musing on death: of human beings, and of our planet. The pairing doesn’t entirely work organically. Still, the seeming intent is a processing of grief.

“If you’re in this room,” Abigail tells the audience at the Claire Tow Theater, “we assume you are going through something terrible.”

Shaun adds: “And if you’re not, then we don’t want to hear about it.” (Is he joking? He’s very dry. Hard to tell.)

As Abigail notes, the show is front-loaded with grief. She mentions almost immediately that her brother died the day she and Shaun were asked to do this Lincoln Center run. The hurt of that loss is in fact threaded throughout “The Keep Going Songs,” which, by the way, is a new piece. Despite the title and the shared motif of perseverance, it is unrelated to the Bengsons’ pandemic-inspired show “ The Keep Going Song ,” with its upbeat, earworm title tune .

This show is sadder, more battered by life, despite the ethereal harmonies and occasional crystallizing comic lyric, like the one about Manhattan as the home of “the lanternfly and the tech bro.” Or the extended, trippily funny dance, during the “Animal Suite” section, in which Shaun morphs into a crab, and makes crab sounds.

The music is often sublime, and Abigail’s enchantress voice could make you believe in ancient gods bestowing gifts on mortals. So it’s frustrating that “The Keep Going Songs” is as amorphous as the grief that vexes her. Whether or not that formal echo is intentional, it makes the show hard to get a handle on.

And it made me miss the playwright Sarah Gancher and the director Anne Kauffman, the Bengsons’ collaborators on “ Hundred Days ” and “ The Lucky Ones ,” shows whose looseness had a discernible structure underneath.

Even the single overtly ritualistic segment here, a toast to Abigail’s brother that includes Guinness for a handful of audience members, meanders. I couldn’t help remembering Aya Ogawa’s mourning ritual of a play, “ The Nosebleed ,” whose tautness in the same LCT3 space only amplified its ache.

Cate McCrea’s “Keep Going” set is constructed of what we’re told are elements recycled from productions in Lincoln Center Theater’s Broadway house. The thrust stage is flanked by bright green, globe-topped streetlights standing askew, as if Sesame Street had been thrown into chaos. (That is not a dis.)

Close to the stage are a half-dozen tiny cabaret tables, then the usual bank of seats — but I wish we’d all been at cabaret tables, because this show cries out for relaxed intimacy. It would help if the lights weren’t up on the audience much of the time, inadvertently hindering communion.

“The Keep Going Songs” feels like the middle installment of a movie trilogy, where the heroes’ hard slog through the valley is all-consuming, and solace is a dream or a memory.

Once, Abigail tells us, when she was at the bottom of a well of pain, she sent her brother a signal-flare text: “hey.” And he sent her back a sustaining shot of grace: “kick ass kiddo.”

Now that’s the title of a Bengsons song.

The Keep Going Songs Through May 26 at the Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan; lct.org . Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

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Arco is the first feature for Bienvenu after short films Maman and L’entretien and comic books. His multi-awarded best seller System Preference has been translated in over 10 languages and was released by Penguin in the US, England, and Canada at the end of 2023.

Bienvenu, who studied and now teaches at France’s famed Gobelins animation school in Paris, has built his production team from talent he trained and nurtured there.

Portman is joining the English-language voice cast for the film which is in the process of being finalized.

The French language voice cast will feature Alma Jodorowsky ( Blue Is The Warmest Colour ), Swann Arlaud ( Anatomy of a Fall ), Vincent Macaigne ( C’est La Vie , Suspended Time ) and Louis Garrel (Little Women , The Dreamers) and rapper Oxmo Puccino.

Arco marks the first feature animation for Portman and Mas’ MountainA since its launch in 2020. The company made its festival debut last Cannes with Todd Haynes’ May December .

Subsequent credits include the documentary series Angel City , about the Los Angeles women’s football team ACFC, which premiered on HBO in May 2023. Its limited series Lady in the Lake , created and directed by Alma Har’el, will be released on Apple TV+ in summer of 2024.

“The discovery of Arco has been a poetic and emotional shock for me. Arco is the spiritual child of Miyazaki and Spielberg and we are proud to start again a new animation adventure alongside a talented and passionate production team,” said Vincent Maraval, president Goodfellas , the co-parent company of Gebeka International .

Goodfellas has a long history of selling animated features, having handled international distribution on most of Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography beginning with Oscar-winning hit Spirited Away as well as The Little Prince , Red Turtle , Summit of the Gods , and Where is Anne Frank .

Gebeka International was created as a joint venture between Goodfellas (former Wild Bunch International) and animation company Gebeka Films in 2021, with a focus on all types of animation from stop-motion to 3D. 

Further upcoming titles on its slate include Liane-Cho Han and Mailys Vallade’s  Little Amelie , Guillaume Ivernel’s  The Legendaries  and  Savages  by Claude Barras, the Oscar-nominated director  My life as a Zucchini , which will world premiere as a Special Screening in Cannes.

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Everything We Know About Flesh of the Gods

Kristen Stewart is returning to her vampire roots

Kristen Stewart is once again transforming into a pale-faced bloodsucker—and no, it’s not for a Twilight sequel.

Producer Adam McKay explained the film’s premise in a statement: “This director, this writer, these incredible actors, vampires, choice ’80s punk, style, and attitude for miles … that’s the film we’re bringing you today. We think it’s wildly commercial and wildly artful. Our ambitions are to make a movie that ripples through popular culture, fashion, music, and film. Can you tell how excited I am?”

Ahead, we break down everything we know so far about Flesh of the Gods .

What is Flesh of the Gods about?

The movie will explore the lives of a vampire couple living in Los Angeles during the 1980s. Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker ( Se7en ) developed the script, working from a concept he and Cosmatos came up with.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , “the story follows a married couple, Raoul (Isaac) and Alex (Stewart), who descend each evening from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into an electric nighttime realm of ’80s L.A. When they cross paths with a mysterious and enigmatic woman and her hard-partying cabal, Raoul and Alex are seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills, and violence.”

“Like Los Angeles itself Flesh of the Gods inhabits the liminal realm between fantasy and nightmare,” Cosmatos said in a statement. “Both propulsive and hypnotic, Flesh will take you on a hot-rod joyride deep into the glittering heart of hell.”

Who’s in it?

As of this writing, the only cast members announced are Stewart and Isaac.

When will the movie be released?

Flesh of the Gods doesn’t have a release date yet. Producers have told news outlets they hope to begin shooting this year.

As an associate editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, Chelsey keeps a finger on the pulse on all things celeb news. She also writes on social movements, connecting with activists leading the fight on workers' rights, climate justice, and more. Offline, she’s probably spending too much time on TikTok, rewatching Emma (the 2020 version, of course), or buying yet another corset. 

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