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Poster for Staying Vertical

Staying Vertical

2016 · 1h 38m · UNRATED Drama
Directed by Alain Guiraudie

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Overview

Screenwriter Leo is searching for the wolf in the south of France. During a scouting excursion he is seduced by Marie, a free-spirited and dynamic shepherdess. Nine months later she gives birth to their child. Suffering from post-natal depression and with no faith in Leo, who comes and goes without warning, Marie abandons both of them. Leo finds himself alone, with a baby to care for.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
71%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Finds an ideal balance between light surrealism and formal precision, so that nearly every scene fulfills the standard criterion for a great ending: surprising plus inevitable.

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club
Fresh

More adventurous viewers will nonetheless be charmed by this delightfully queer oddity.

Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter
Fresh

Gorgeously shot against a barren setting to emphasize his alienation, Staying Vertical offers a consistent world rich with possible meanings.

Eric Kohn, indieWIRE
Fresh

This frostily fascinating film shows life to be a pretty surreal event.

Guy Lodge, Time Out
Rotten

The technical bravura that Guiraudie summoned in "Stranger" - the subtle manipulation of light, weather, shot language, and temporal cunning - now falls by the wayside in a story that lurches from episode to disconnected episode.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety

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