The Vessel

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The Vessel

PG-13,

2016,

1h 26m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

67%

18 Reviews

Tomatometer

45%

100+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

67%

Tomatometer

18 Reviews

45%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

A tidal wave destroys a small-town elementary school and washes 46 children out to sea. Over the next 10 years, music, dancing, fireworks and childbirth all vanish from the village, which is locked in perpetual mourning. One night, a young man named Leo slips off the pier and drowns but mysteriously revives three hours later. The townspeople wonder if this is a sign from God when Leo feels compelled to build a mysterious structure out of the school's remains.

Matthew Lickona

San Diego Reader

Sep 21, 2016

3/5

Whatever his influences, Quintana has made his own, fine thing: a quietly powerful depiction of the what is required to rekindle hope in the hopeless.

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Sep 15, 2016

B+

Gentle, poetic, touching.

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Andy Webster

New York Times

Sep 15, 2016

A modest, but not maudlin, parable of hope about mustering the strength to vigorously plunge again into life's uncertainties after a devastating loss.

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Nathanael Hood

Audiences Everywhere

Dec 27, 2018

B

Julio Quintana's The Vessel is a gorgeous, lyrical film about faith that's more interested in questions than in answers.

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Jordi Costa

El Pais (Spain)

Dec 19, 2016

Julio Quintana turns his camera into an omniscient eye, while raising exciting questions about the distance between tragedy and miracle. [Full review in Spanish]

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Carlos Marañón

Cinemanía (Spain)

Nov 7, 2016

2/5

A clear and obvious example of the difficulty of conveying messages of spiritual transcendence through cinema. [Full review in Spanish]

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Ron W

Apr 1, 2018

A well made film with an exotic locale and high ideals. The problem is simply that it's boring.

Harry R

Dec 25, 2017

The small budget would have made this film proper for TV only, but the acting, the setting, the story and the effects were all there to make this lift off. The story is very contrary to expected. We'd think some magic would happen with some special power but the magic is only in what people believes, which could be dark, even black, or could be light and hopeful. That the film got itself so good while being so ordinary is as if it had a bit of god in it. Yes, it's believable. Kudos to all for making this.

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Albus S

Oct 8, 2017

The Vessel est un film porto-ricain assez étrange en raison de son approche mais malgré tout, le message voulu passe bien et la réalisation est réussie mais le côté contemplatif du film ne plaira pas à tout le monde.

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Luke W

Jun 21, 2017

I started to watch out of curiosity for a new movie from Martin Sheen and got hooked by the muted emotions depicted in the film, sadness, loss, resignation, love and catarsis. Beautiful and very delicate photography of the sea and the skies and perfect accompanying music. Parallelly, Martin Sheen does a good representation of a pastor who tries to influence, not sure if with much success, a small community to which he is a stranger.

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George S

Mar 11, 2017

Confusing as hell and not particularly interesting. This is really just an extremely pretentious film.

Poe R

Feb 17, 2017

I didn't think it was so fantastic...

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Synopsis

A tidal wave destroys a small-town elementary school and washes 46 children out to sea. Over the next 10 years, music, dancing, fireworks and childbirth all vanish from the village, which is locked in perpetual mourning. One night, a young man named Leo slips off the pier and drowns but mysteriously revives three hours later. The townspeople wonder if this is a sign from God when Leo feels compelled to build a mysterious structure out of the school's remains.

Director: Julio Quintana
Producer: Marla Quintana
Screenwriter: Julio Quintana
Distributor: Outsider Pictures
Production Co: New Territory Pictures, Rockafellow Films, P&R Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Some Partial Nudity/Sensuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 16, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 2, 2017
Runtime: 1h 26m

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