A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)

Two lonely people embark on a journey that leads them to different eras and to all the things they could have done differently.

Great ride, but some ingredients are missing. There is nothing realistic or even sensible about A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – and that, in theory, is perfectly fine. Life itself rarely makes sense. The problem is not its whimsy; it’s the absence of the emotion it so clearly aims to evoke.

The introduction works beautifully. There is charm, intrigue, and a promise that something meaningful is about to unfold. But once the journey truly begins, the momentum softens. A mysterious door stands in the middle of a forest, leading to fragments of the past where others perceive the protagonists as their younger selves. It is a wonderfully absurd premise. Yet the characters accept it almost too easily. There is no hesitation, no existential tremor – just a gentle wandering from one symbolic door to the next. The fantastical becomes casual, and in doing so, it loses some of its magic.

Thinking back to director Kogonada’s After Yang (2021): https://kaygazpro.com/after-yang-2021-drama-sci-fi/, also starring Colin Farrell, a similar emotional restraint hovers over crucial moments. The tone is delicate, almost hushed, but at times that restraint turns into emotional flatness. The mysterious car agency – hinted at as something larger, perhaps agents of fate or destiny – never quite embraces its potential mysticism. It feels functional rather than transcendent.

The film positions itself as a light fantasy/comedy/drama. The comedy is indeed light, occasionally charming. But the drama is where it should have soared. Scenes between Sarah and her mother, in particular, feel designed to break hearts. Instead, they gently tap on them. Seth Reiss’ script and Kogonada’s direction seem hesitant to fully surrender to emotional excess. And yet, the cast does what it can. Colin Farrell brings quiet vulnerability (see the moment with his dad), Margot Robbie radiates aching fragility to the point of self-destruction, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Kline offer gravitas.

For all its shortcomings, the film provokes reflection. It becomes a lonely, almost therapeutic fantasy for those who feel consciously lost, searching for direction while pretending they have one. It made me philosophise, which means it offered substance. I only wish it had dared to dive deeper into the uneasy blend of harsh pseudo-realism and boundless wishful fantasy.