4:30 (2006)

Critic Reviews

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  This long, all-but-wordless piece is good on the endless boredom of unsupervised childhood.

• Jamie Russell, Film4

  Somewhat ironically for a film about insomnia, 4:30 manages to send its audience to sleep. A lack of plot and an ill-judged belief in its own importance make it a disappointment for Tan fans.

• Tim Evans, Sky Movies

  Nicely shot but too wilfully obscure for many tastes, it's to Xiao Li Yuan's credit that he carries a movie whose unrequited love theme doesn't merit this length.

• Patrick Peters, Empire Magazine

  A melancholic treatise on isolation and our failure to connect with those closest to us.

• Matt Bochenski, Little White Lies

  Royston Tan's film comes alive in the green hued semi-darkness of the flat, using long takes and infinite silences to show two troubled souls connecting through their mutual loneliness.

• S. James Wegg, JWR

  With this production (a natural progression from his previous work, notably 15) director Royston Tan most assuredly moves from the category of filmmaker to artist.

Read all 6 critic reviews