Malick poses questions about purpose and life whilst running on an empty tank.

As expected, Emmanuel Lubezki (DP for Gravity and Birdman) achieves wonders for Malick, transforming urban landscapes and GoPro footage into images of breathtaking beauty.

However, the sentiment a “picture is worth a thousand words” is taken to extremes as the film replicates and repeats its “profound” insights, with Malick seemingly uninterested in his own story.

Each individual obtains his or her own meanings from the auteur’s films. The problem here is that there is too little substance for anyone to feel anything meaningful or profound.

Arguably this is Malick’s most “Malicky” flick. DP Lubezki is the sole star with those in front of the camera suffering from an overwhelming emptiness found within the misstep that is Knight of Cups.

RATING: 2/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Antonio Banderas, Natalie Portman

DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick

WRITER: Terrence Malick

SYNOPSIS: A screenwriter living in LA tries to make sense of the strange events occurring around him.