Featured Audience Ratings

• Cynthia S

  
  Booooring...

• paul s

  
  Perfect Sense is a film possessing an interesting idea, and yet, in the end leaves you with the feeling that so much more could have been explored here. Central is the theme that people do what people will do, and that, in particular, without love and companionship the human… More
  Perfect Sense is a film possessing an interesting idea, and yet, in the end leaves you with the feeling that so much more could have been explored here. Central is the theme that people do what people will do, and that, in particular, without love and companionship the human condition is nothing. This is all wrapped up in a parable about an epidemic wherein people begin to lose their senses one by one; all while a narrator tells us that we should take note of all of our senses, and the film follows by pointing out that without the sense of smell to trigger our memories, those memories themselves fade. This is a nice observation as whenever I smell the first scent of ozone before a fall rain it brings back memories of earlier rainy days. However, this film, featuring Ewan McGregor, while having some poetic moments, and others of blunt realism, still somehow fails to mesh, as there is a certain fatalism at work here which strips the film of many a potential dramatic moment. That you somehow fail to really care much about the entire enterprise, let alone the blossoming love amongst the ruins affair of McGregor and scientist/love interest Eva Green is not the fault of the actors, for they are just fine, if not a bit hemmed in by script restraints... and it isn't that the script doesn't have some very truthful and lovely moments (I'm not going to reveal the ending here, but rather will simply say that it is poignant and satisfying). So then why does the film not illicit a better response? I suspect because the overall arc is so very matter of fact and that, even while showing the love connection between the two leads, the film somehow remains at odds and is often very clinical in its portrayal of the end of the world. I did rather enjoy the what if scenario involving a restaurant, and found the critic writing about the texture of the food to be a nice touch (am I revealing too much by mentioning this when I have already mentioned that the film is about a lose of the senses?). But.. these moments are unfortunately too few and in its short run time, I felt that too much time was invested on things that ultimately didn't matter (like the running of the restaurant), while other opportunities (like more investigation into the epidemic) remained un-mined gold. I also felt that the flow of the film could have been better and that the artsy collages of world events were more of a distraction than a contribution to the film. Regardless, this film does have some merit in spite of some rather clumsy handling of the topic.

• Tired of P

  
  Question: Do you remember when you were a kid and you constantly asked people "what if" questions? My kids do it all the time. So much so it drives me nuts some days. "What if the sky was green? What if we had a cat instead of a dog? What if I had an extra arm?"… More
  Question: Do you remember when you were a kid and you constantly asked people "what if" questions? My kids do it all the time. So much so it drives me nuts some days. "What if the sky was green? What if we had a cat instead of a dog? What if I had an extra arm?" etc... I also recall when I was younger and being asked what if I had to choose to lose one of my senses which one would I select? I always had difficulty with that one. Losing my sight or hearing were an automatic no, but what about taste, smell or the ability to feel? Oh, I struggled with giving an answer. They all have importance to me and the way I live my life. Which one would you choose? I ask these questions because I watched Perfect Sense recently and the plot was about this exact topic. In typical form I don't want to give the plot away so I will try and just give you some details that I really enjoyed about this film. Yes, I will skip over the fact that Ewan McGregor stars in this, but I do have to say he was quite good in this one. First, Perfect Sense told on a very unique "what if" story but took it to an extreme. Imagine losing one of your senses. How would you cope? What other senses would heighten or adjust? How would it affect your job? So many questions get asked in this film it was sometimes hard to keep up with what I would do. So, I just let the story take me away and I let the filmmaker prove their vision for specific outcomes. And both lead characters, Ewan McGregor and Eva Green, did a fantastic job showing how different types of people react to losing a sense. I'd say more about the specifics of the characters but it is best you just find out for yourselves how they meet, connect and deal with their issues. Second, then the plot added in a romance that became affected by the "what ifs", and it makes you really think about how people, why people and what people do when they are in love and when something is subtracted from the equation. Brilliant! We all have been romantically involved with someone, and usually there are certain obstacles to get over, get around or avoid. But what if everyone had the same obstacles? A level playing ground, so to speak. The film delves into this and I was completely mesmerized by the progression of certain relationships. Lastly, by the end of the film, and I cannot say as to why or I will give too many details away, I was smiling when I hadn't really throughout the majority of the film. Not just at what was happening in the film but how the filmmakers communicated the finale. It gave me goose bumps and it really brought me even more into the story, if that was possible. I totally lose myself when I watch a film but the experience I had with Perfect Sense brought me in so much deeper. Well done! And on that note: I am going to let my children ask me as many "what if" questions as they want because I know believe they are the impetus to good storytelling. You'll never know where asking certain questions will lead. Directed by David McKenzie, BBC Films, 2011. Written by Kim Fupz Aakeson. Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi. Starring: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Connie Nielsen, Denis Lawson, Stephen Dillane, and Ewen Bremner. My favorite part: Well, Ewan McGregor, of course but honestly I loved how the film ended. My least favorite part: A scene with people eating - that is all I will say about that. Rating: R Length: 92 minutes Review: 8 out of 10

• Manu G

  
  Without love there is nothing. Perfect Film!!! Wow!!! Personally, I loved the film! It is a beautiful film to look at, even in the most devastating of scenes. I felt multiple emotions throughout the film, of which I felt the movie accomplished well. There are scenes that may make you… More
  Without love there is nothing. Perfect Film!!! Wow!!! Personally, I loved the film! It is a beautiful film to look at, even in the most devastating of scenes. I felt multiple emotions throughout the film, of which I felt the movie accomplished well. There are scenes that may make you laugh, scenes that may make you feel tense, scenes that may make you shed some tears, scenes that may make you feel more appreciative of what you have in life.Of all the senses, smell most strongly connects us to memory and the past. Taste locks us into the present. Hearing and sight help us navigate through the world. It is touch, however, that connects us intimately to each other. The narrative style and the evolving storyline makes it an enjoyable drama. It doesn't shoulder the burden of a beginning or an end, the genesis of an epidemic or an apocalyptic vision. Instead its all depicted in the background, thus making the movie enlivening. And never ever did i get a dark vibe, for with each phase it moves on just the way its shown in the movie. And then finally we don't pity, rather, we empathize and be part of that world. Perfect Sense is a terrifically acted movie and has a wonderful, haunting score. Green and McGregor have a natural chemistry together and made you believe their personal issues. Michael is an optimist who believes humanity will adapt to the new environment while Susan continues to fight her demons. It is easily one of the best performances of McGregor's career. The film elects not to focus so much on the search for a cure, choosing instead to follow a more intimate path, studying instead the aforementioned adjustments the world has to make, and crystallizing these changes in the shifting aspects of the relationship between McGregor and Green. It's a technique that works well, giving the hugest of subjects an intimate tenderness that would surely otherwise be unattainable. Screenplay is very powerful and you literally feel the movie.There is very little script,the environments say it all.There is however, a background commentary which actually goes well with the scenes. All in all this is a beautiful film, a must see for all, it contains all the elements of a classic. An odd epidemic appears across the globe: people suddenly lose one of their senses. At first, it's an outbreak of loss of smell. It's often presaged by a destructive temper tantrum. In this mix are a scientist and a chef - she's Susan, one of a team trying to understand the epidemic; he's Michael, charming and engaging. Susan and Michael begin a relationship in the middle of increasing chaos, as the loss of other senses plagues more people and as civil authorities try to maintain order. Susan's voice-over reflections provide insight. Is love possible in such a changed world? Can anything make perfect sense?

• 5 o´clock coffee .

  
  It's obvious that "Perfect Sense" has some flaws and that, at the end, you are left with a "too sweet" taste in your mouth, but the film makes a very interesting study on humanity, on our ability to adapt and our determination to survive. What I miss is a… More
  It's obvious that "Perfect Sense" has some flaws and that, at the end, you are left with a "too sweet" taste in your mouth, but the film makes a very interesting study on humanity, on our ability to adapt and our determination to survive. What I miss is a better approach on the reasons that move us: why do we go on no matter what? Is this strength or just fear ? Unsure of what comes next and doubtful if there's actually a "sequel", don't we just keep walking? "Those who believe that life will go on somehow... ... or just don't know what else to do. They concentrate on the things that are important to them." Considering each one's characteristics and differences, "Perfect Sense" would be somewhere between "Blindness" and "Melancholia", passing by "Never Let Me Go". Way more absorbing and superior to Fernando Meirelles's adaptation of Saramago's Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira and with a love story that finds parallels with Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, David Mackenzie's film predicates the end of the world with an optimistic perspective that Lars von Trier could never conceive. 3 or 3/5 stars.

• Nicki M

  
  Pretty depressing movie, reminded me a little of "Blindness". It was well made and kept me interested, but I can't honestly say I got to the end and felt glad I had watched it.

• Carlos M

  
  Inexplicably bashed by many critics, this is a surprisingly optimistic and vivid take on the overused apocalyptic scenario. An honest romance that is really touching and beautiful, even if sometimes the stylized direction and some involuntarily funny scenes stand in the way.

• Mark W

  
  Director David MacKenzie heads back to the city of Glasgow with Ewan McGregor, after their first collaboration in 2003's "Young Adam". That was a gritty and powerful film but here, both of them have excelled themselves, in one of the years most criminally overlooked… More
  Director David MacKenzie heads back to the city of Glasgow with Ewan McGregor, after their first collaboration in 2003's "Young Adam". That was a gritty and powerful film but here, both of them have excelled themselves, in one of the years most criminally overlooked films. Michael (Ewan McGregor) is a Glaswegian chef who falls for scientist Susan (Eva Green). She happens to be investigating an epidemic and as they are getting to know each other, people the world over, begin to develop some strange behaviour which leads to them losing their sensory perceptions. First, the sense of smell goes, then taste and so on... This may be compared (with it's apocalyptic theme) to the recent Steven Soderbergh, lethal epidemic, film "Contagion", or more so, Fernando Meirelles' similar "Blindness" but you'd be doing this film a disservice if you go into it with preconceived ideas based on those lethargic and jaded deliveries. This is a completely immersive human drama that packs some real power and has more in common with one of my favourite films of recent years - Alfonso Cauron's "Children Of Men". It has the same stark approach; the authentic feel for the frailty of our society and the same potential demise of humankind. If the end was indeed nigh, you'd expect a bit of chaos and people acting, more than a little, peeved but director Mackenzie and screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakeson never force this issue, allowing the drama to unfold at it's own pace, with highly effective mood established by the great use of austere Glasgow locations and haunting music by Max Richter. The two leads also help by delivering believable characters with subtlety and McGregor is given a rare chance to show his range - which he delivers admirably. Fine support is also supplied around him, particularly, some slight comic-relief from his "Trainspotting" co-star Ewen Bremner. The film itself, is essentially a love story but it's a harrowing and heartbreaking one. As the couple are getting in touch with their feelings and exploring their love for each other, they are losing their sensory perceptions one by one. It's an intriguing premise that builds slowly and Mackenzie's assured mirroring of the sensory perceptions waning, allow the audience to better understand how it feels, before delivering one of the most powerful and unrelenting endings of the year. An unconventional, thoughtful and ultimately poetic, 'end of days' drama that deserves to find a wider audience. In a year of films dealing with the nature of our existence - "The Tree of Life"; "Melancholia" and "Another Earth", this stands as good as, if not better. Simply magnificent.

• Emil K

  
  This was absloutely pointless and indiffrent experience from the very beginnig till it's melodramatic ending to sit through. David MacKenzie's semi sci-fi lovestory is such an awkwardly artsy in it's presentation that it is nearly impossible to feel anything but… More
  This was absloutely pointless and indiffrent experience from the very beginnig till it's melodramatic ending to sit through. David MacKenzie's semi sci-fi lovestory is such an awkwardly artsy in it's presentation that it is nearly impossible to feel anything but embarrased of anyone involved here. Here is a film that desperately wants to be taken seriously and with it's approach to it's material it clearly seems to be completely serious about everything that it shows us. This is equally unbalanced work as was Fernando Meirelles' horribly miscalculated Blindness or the overrated Children of Men with it's show-off action set pieces. David MacKenzie is in my opinion a director without potential or style. He tries too desperately to be taken seriously as an artist. His earlier films has also proven that. Films like Young Adam, Asylum or Hallam Foe are for example all disasters in their own way. They are wannabe indies that show how badly MacKenzie tries to be quirky and unique. Even with actors like Eva Green or Stephen Dillane on board here, MacKenzie cannot add anything for this film's ridicilous plot. But in my opinion the plot is not the biggest problem here. It is the way MacKenzie treats the material, no matter how ridicilous, he makes it all as interesting as dead fish in a toilet

• Veronique K

  
  pefect sense is like camus' plague with a romantic twist, an apocalypse interpetated through a postive, humantarianized perspective. the title perfect sense is misleading because there's no perfect sense in this case, more like "let us retrospect the love we've had… More
  pefect sense is like camus' plague with a romantic twist, an apocalypse interpetated through a postive, humantarianized perspective. the title perfect sense is misleading because there's no perfect sense in this case, more like "let us retrospect the love we've had before we lose all the senses." the title perfect sense is just a catchy slogan which is irrelevant to the picture. inevitably, the film adapts some ecological, leftist discourse as background to give it an intellectual touch: humans gradually fail to grasp the senses they've taken for granted due to the harm they've done to the environment. so the story whirls around a man and a woman who are inflicted with some issues with romance of their own. their love is intensified along with the worsening of this sense-losing contagion. to a certain point, they've lost everything except the final embrace they could have from each other as in the end, everyone in the world cannot smell, listen or even see anything at all. but my question would be, how about people who don't have a lover, who have no family? so they die alone without a redeeming solace? perfect sense is surely an utopic dystopian picture which has high expectation/estimation of humanity as if the scriptor assumes that all humans would eventually forgive each other and embrace their one-remaining love out there. it's quite a overtly optimistic premise of human nature. but on the other hand, i've been fed up with those sensationally negative amargeddon craps from hollywood as if the end of man becomes an opportunity for american hero to show off the size of his balls, the magnitude of his machismo since he's just fucking man enough to carry the weight of the world all upon his trust-worthy shoulders. perfect sense here seems to make a low-key, down-to-earth statement "if the world ends, no one could save it, okay, let it be, life goes on!" (fine, love it!) but one thing i do wish to "complain"..hm, more like a major drawback of this picture: the reactions people have when they lose their senses are sort of too MELODRAMATIC and oddly uniformed. (yes, i believe i would go insane if i suddenly cannot smell or listen, but not in THAT way)..also, the way the couple meet in the picture seems a bit contrived, and i don't believe that two people could heat it on just like THAT, almost too cute: a woman just bursts out of tears in the memories of her diseased father then the guy follows her to console her then innocently sleep beside her and weep together with her. yeah, but ewan mcgregor is the guy who is capable to sell you that with his handsome, guileless face! especially when he's paired with woman like eva green, who is just enticingly beautiful enoguh to convince you, that could happen. they seem to have great chemistry with those heart-felt smiles and gestures of intimacy, which tend to draw great envy as if you wish you were in love just like that. the leads' chemistry compensate the defect of such CAMPY script. the movie's drawback is also its engrossing point, the simplified character-portrayals in minor characters (people outside the leads) effectively enhance the major story with a fable-esque aura, more like contemporalized myth/fairy-tale with appropriate amount of complex nuances in its subplots, an anti-thesis to the popular apoclyptic stories which tend to maneuver to complicate the stories with all the negative elements - a grandeur macrocosmos which absorbs each darkness and encompasses all the wild doomsday adventures as one giant adrenalizer..usually the backset is complicated with all the problems surrounding the major characters, but the major human characters are quite often flat and two-dimensional - desperate humans who have no time to think, busy with staying alive or saving the world. but here, perfect sense is a tale developed through the microcosmos of two individuals whose personalities are complicated with the details of their past which contribute to their present emotional obstacles while the backdrop is quite simplified, things happen in much slower pace. thus the central focus is on the humans - the couples. as if it's saying, even the doomsday is approaching, there's still time for us to reflect oursevles and ruminate things over, and have one final everlastingly long hug with our beloved ones. gee, it's quite humanistic, but almost too adorbaly idealistic..(but it's quite pleasantly refreshing to see a apocalypse picture based on humans and the idea of humanity.)

• Liam G

  
  ''Perfect Sense'' is kind of a combination of ''Contagion'' and ''Never Let Me Go''. The former did a great job of showing how a virus would destroy humanity in this day and age, while the latter was the more emotional of the… More
  ''Perfect Sense'' is kind of a combination of ''Contagion'' and ''Never Let Me Go''. The former did a great job of showing how a virus would destroy humanity in this day and age, while the latter was the more emotional of the two. David McKenzie, for the most part, managed to balance the heart and the fear of the virus well in his sci-fi drama. The performances are solid and McKenzie does a solid job with his direction, doing some very interesting things with the camera at times. But where ''Perfect Sense'' shines is in its last 20 minutes, which are devastating, tense and very impactful. It's some of the best filmmaking I've seen all year, as due to the plot, McKenzie had a difficult job of executing some rather challenging shots and set-pieces, but he rose to the challenge. Though Ewan McGregor and Eva Green are great and their relationship started off well, I felt as though as it progressed, it played out in the more generic way. Generic is something ''Perfect Sense'' is not, except for that side of the film. Scenes of their affection that could've been done through back-story or good dialogue are replaced by rather unnecessary and repetitive love scenes and at times mediocre dialogue. But the beginning and ending of ''Perfect Sense'' makes it worth watching and it always keeps you engaged and proves rather thought-provoking.

• Matheus C

  
  It succeeeds in doing what "Contagion" failed to do - creating genuine human drama amidst the pandemonium, and with a much smaller budget.

• Walter M

  
  In "Perfect Sense," Susan(Eva Green) is an epidemiologist who is investigating a plague that robs people of their sense of smell and gives them wracking bouts of guilt, having apparently ruled out cigarette smoke as a cause, even with everybody in Glasgow being a chain… More
  In "Perfect Sense," Susan(Eva Green) is an epidemiologist who is investigating a plague that robs people of their sense of smell and gives them wracking bouts of guilt, having apparently ruled out cigarette smoke as a cause, even with everybody in Glasgow being a chain smoker. Since everybody has stopped eating in restaurants, Michael(Ewan McGregor), a chef, has plenty of time to chat up and spend time with Susan. On one such date, they go to the river where at least they find street performers thriving. "Perfect Sense" is a pretentious and ponderous movie that actually finds a boring possible end for the human race with some Scottish national stereotypes thrown in for good measure. As such it takes its stated themes and puts them on huge billboards, so nobody could possibly miss them from outer space. The parts about seeking an emotional connection are okay, but the ideas concerning the difference between living and existing crash and burn, because there are multitudes that have no access even to 'fat and flour,' thus giving this misguided movie a spoiled first world point of view. It is a shame because there is a neat cast on hand including Connie Nielsen and Stephen Dillane who are all stranded in a sea of inert characters and plotting.

• The Movie W

  
  One of the most popular hypothetical questions we like to ask is if we had to lose four of our senses, which one would we keep? This movie leaves you in no doubt that sight is the one to hold onto. A global pandemic is causing the populous to lose their senses one by one. The first… More
  One of the most popular hypothetical questions we like to ask is if we had to lose four of our senses, which one would we keep? This movie leaves you in no doubt that sight is the one to hold onto. A global pandemic is causing the populous to lose their senses one by one. The first to go is smell and after the initial panic it's accepted and the world moves on. After all, of all the species on earth we are one of the least dependent on this sense. Next comes taste. Woah, you mean we can't enjoy food anymore? This really depresses people but after some time life goes on. It's when hearing goes that all hell really breaks loose, plunging society into chaos. Caught up in this are McGregor and Green, a couple who are beginning a passionate romance. She's just had her heart broken by a previous lover and he's previously suffered from commitment issues. In movie land how can they not end up together? The movie is a curious hybrid of romance and apocalyptic drama, and it succeeds very well at both. Shot on a low budget in Glasgow, the scenes of chaos are well represented given the financial constraints. As far as the romantic aspect goes, if you take a date to see this and you don't get laid the relationship just wasn't meant to be. Women were literally bawling their eyes out all around me at the end. I must extend a sarcastic thanks to the staff at Cineworld who ruined the ending by turning the lights on too early. You'll know what I mean when you see the film, which you should.

• Panta O

  
  This odd and intriguing drama directed by David Mackenzie and written by Kim Fupz Aakeson premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival... I liked this love story of two people who fall in love just as an epidemic begins to rob the world's population of their sensory perceptions.… More
  This odd and intriguing drama directed by David Mackenzie and written by Kim Fupz Aakeson premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival... I liked this love story of two people who fall in love just as an epidemic begins to rob the world's population of their sensory perceptions. Yes, some people will find this film frustrating at times, but I really enjoyed the concept of the screen poetry which makes you think - big time! Eva Green and Ewan McGregor had enough chemistry between themselves to makes us believe that it's perfectly natural that they stayed together as their world evaporates into darkness and silence. All the different unusual distress scenes and the changing pace will hold your attention till the end... which is "something else"! Recently I saw few movies who gave me a choice of bang ending or big bang ending - and after seeing this one I started to have a preference for ending with a cuddle! Not a bad viewing!

• Andreia C

  
  The best movie I've seen of this genre for a while. Much better than the movie from the same base "Contagion" Ewan McGregor and Eva Green did an outstanding job. Giving a deeper meaning to this apocalyptic epidemy. Don't watch the trailer for this movie, it will… More
  The best movie I've seen of this genre for a while. Much better than the movie from the same base "Contagion" Ewan McGregor and Eva Green did an outstanding job. Giving a deeper meaning to this apocalyptic epidemy. Don't watch the trailer for this movie, it will spoil most of it. Just go ahead and see it, it won't be a waste of time.

• DA Z

  
  I went into this film blindly, so the fact that it's narrated in an apocalyptic world (where people slowly begin losing their 5 senses) caught me entirely by surprise. That said, it had an incredibly poignant and original plot, with astounding performances by Ewan McGregor and… More
  I went into this film blindly, so the fact that it's narrated in an apocalyptic world (where people slowly begin losing their 5 senses) caught me entirely by surprise. That said, it had an incredibly poignant and original plot, with astounding performances by Ewan McGregor and Eva Green. It was as romantically charming as it was existentially dark and tormenting. While the the film's finale may initially feel unsatisfying, it leaves one pondering over our perception of daily life and everything we often take for granted.

• Christopher H

  
  Wonderfully blending genres, Perfect Sense presents a love story centered in the middle of an apocalyptic landscape where the masses are experiencing sensory loss. The film carries on lifelike, never feeling forced or unrealistic. Ewan McGregor and Eva Green offer the perfect pairing,… More
  Wonderfully blending genres, Perfect Sense presents a love story centered in the middle of an apocalyptic landscape where the masses are experiencing sensory loss. The film carries on lifelike, never feeling forced or unrealistic. Ewan McGregor and Eva Green offer the perfect pairing, both delivering surprise performances. David MacKenzie is a director who knows what he wants and, through narration and dialogue, creates one of the best films of the year.

• Nicolas K

  
  An original but oddly unexpected story of love, that tickles all your senses and challenges you to re-assess the connection between each one of them and our lives' experiences. The director does amazing job of conveying strong feelings though subtle metaphors and clever visual… More
  An original but oddly unexpected story of love, that tickles all your senses and challenges you to re-assess the connection between each one of them and our lives' experiences. The director does amazing job of conveying strong feelings though subtle metaphors and clever visual and audio tricks.

Read all 19 featured audience ratings