A series of intertwining love triangles play out to the backdrop of the music scene in Austin, Texas.

Young musicians Faye (Rooney Mara) and BV (Ryan Gosling) are in love. BV has found some success with his producer Cook (Michael Fassbender), so Faye begins an affair with him hoping he can open similar doors for her. When that infidelity is revealed and their existing relationships broken Cook will begin a relationship with Rhonda (Natalie Portman), BV with Amanda (Cate Blanchett) and Faye with Zoey (Berenice Marlohe). 

Song to Song is a Terrence Malick movie. Which means that the above plot synopsis is probably less important than it might be for any other filmmaker. Because Malick’s films do not play out with plot lines moving from A to B. For anyone unfamiliar, Malick has a specific signature where scenes overlap with each other, multiple characters provide narration about their inner thoughts, the camera lingers on nature and everything feels like a fever dream that forces the viewer to engage and empathise with the characters’ emotional state. 

When this works it is transcendental and speaks to your soul. Read my thoughts on Malick’s 2020 film A Hidden Life which I named my favourite film of that year to see an example of this. 

When it fails it feels like you are watching an avant-garde and very pretentious art project.

Song To Song unfortunately leans more towards the latter than the former. It is one of the weakest Malick films I have seen (he has only made ten features in a career spanning more than fifty years) and it really struggles to coalesce into something meaningful until the final moments of its 129 minute run time. Which is a shame as the two lead performances are fascinating and brilliant.

Rooney Mara and Ryan Gosling are the stars of the film and both have the perfect naturalistic style for a Malick movie. Another theme of his films is to generate many, many hours of footage and spend huge amounts of time finding the film in the editing process. The result is that many actors who think they will be in a Malick film find themselves not being in one – Christian Bale, Benicio Del Toro and Haley Bennett were all subject to the editing chop for this film. What this means in terms of the imagery that makes it into the final product is that actors need to be able to say a lot with expressions and movements because there is little structure to the dialogue. Mara and Gosling are both perfect for this, saying a lot with no dialogue is something they both have a great propensity for.

As with all Malick films it looks outstanding. Emmanuel Lubezki as cinematographer does a superb job. Whilst the scenes shot in and around music festivals give you the chance to see famous musicians such as Iggy Pop, John Lydon, Patti Smith and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Even Val Kilmer appears on a stage with a chainsaw. 

So is it worth your time? 

If you have never watched a Malick film please do not start here. If you are prepared for his signature style you will still need to accept that the purpose of the film will not materialise until mere minutes before it ends. If you hurt the people that you love as you travel through life will you find your way back to them? 

Bottom tier Terrence Malick.