By John Corrado

Claire Denis’s High Life was one of the most divisive films of the festival when in premiered at TIFF last year, before becoming one of the year’s most critically acclaimed movies following its theatrical release this spring. It’s now available on DVD.

The film follows Monte (Robert Pattinson), a prisoner trapped aboard a doomed spaceship with his baby daughter, who was put their as part of a scientific experiment that involved sending inmates to the far reaches of space for research purposes.

I was personally a bit in the middle on this one, but I do think it explores some interesting themes and Pattinson delivers another solid performance in the lead, continuing what has become a genuinely intriguing acting career for him. It’s worth checking out, at the very least so you can talk about it, and for more on the film itself, you can read my full review right here.

The DVD also includes the two featurettes Audacious, Passionate and Dangerous: Making High Life , a surprisingly in-depth piece that features members of the cast and crew discussing the story’s themes and Denis’s approach to filmmaking; and Visualizing the Abyss: The Look of High Life, which focuses on the science behind the film, how they crafted the sci-fi visuals on a limited budget, and the almost retro-futuristic look of the technology being used in the film. It’s about half an hour of material in total, and provides some interesting insight into this largely confounding film.

High Life is an Elevation Pictures release. It’s 113 minutes and rated 18A.

Street Date: July 9th, 2019