This is one of those Criterion 'essentials' that a lot of people talk about, and for good reason. This film is incredible. There's not a lot to say. It's such a simple story with an interesting way of presenting the story: still images.
There are films you come across that play with the medium of film itself as a way to elevate the story. I remember the first time I watched Fight Club dir. by David Fincher. Despite how overplayed its reputation is as a the archetypal 'greatest film of all time' for teenage boys, it genuinely is a great film. When I saw it at a friend's house in 2018, I remember feeling completely blown away. When Tyler Durden would show up for just a frame in the background, or when the film burns away when explaining his history, or the moments where Tyler would look directly into the camera and acknowledge the audience: these were all things I had never seen before in a movie.
I had the same feeling when watching this film. I'm sure there are plenty of films out there that I haven't seen that utilize this sort of slideshow storytelling method, but this film does so effectively. At the beginning I was kind of apprehensive to the still images, but after the the first minute I was acclimated.
There's not really a lot to say about the film. The story is simple and doesn't go anywhere too crazy. The ending is predictable, but it doesn't depreciate the film. It's simple and effective storytelling. The moment that really stuck with me was when the still images slowly faded into a moving image. I'm not sure how to explain it, but that was the moment I was like, "yeah this is really good."
Rating: really really really fucking good