The Tree of Life (2011)
75%RT Audience Score: 60%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 3 Oscars
116 wins & 130 nominations total
Terrence Malick’s singularly deliberate style may prove unrewarding for some, but for patient viewers, Tree of Life is an emotional as well as visual treat
The Tree of Life is like a rollercoaster ride that takes you from the microscopic level of life to the vastness of the universe. It’s a beautiful and audacious film that will leave you breathless, but also scratching your head wondering what just happened. The special effects may have been a bit over the top, but the cinematography alone is worth the watch. Just make sure you have some ice cream and a long hug ready for when it’s over.
Production Company(ies)
Tri Star Pictures, Freddie Fields Productions,
Distributor
Fox Searchlight
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Houston, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for some thematic material
Year of Release
2011
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTSS DDS Dolby Surround 7.1
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 18m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 27, 2011 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 11, 2011
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Fiona Shaw, Irene Bedard, Jessica Fuselier, Hunter McCracken, directed by Terrence Malick, written by Terrence Malick, produced by Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill, drama, PG-13, box office, budget, reviewed by Adam Nayman, Amy Taubin, Deborah Ross, Candice Frederick, Paul Byrnes, Michael Atkinson, Sergi Sánchez, Rosa Parra, Don Shanahan, Mark Jackson, Matt Brunson, emotional, visual, family drama, existential, philosophical, Texas, father-son relationship, mother-son relationship, childhood, adulthood, cosmic, intimate, Lubezki’s cinematography, dinosaurs, grief, trees, leaves, sunlight, waves
Worldwide gross: $58,409,247
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $76,895,649
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,145
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,385,567
US/Canada gross: $13,303,319
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $17,513,791
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,454
US/Canada opening weekend: $372,920
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $490,948
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,411
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $32,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $42,127,932
Production budget ranking: 911
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $22,685,891
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $12,081,826
ROI to date (est.): 19%
ROI ranking: 1,299
Sean Penn – Jack
Jessica Chastain – Mrs. O’Brien
Fiona Shaw – Grandmother
Irene Bedard – Messenger
Jessica Fuselier – Guide
Terrence Malick – Director, Writer
Sarah Green – Producer
Bill Pohlad – Producer
Brad Pitt – Producer
Dede Gardner – Producer
Grant Hill – Producer
Director(s)
Terrence Malick
Writer(s)
Terrence Malick
Producer(s)
Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
116 wins & 130 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (291) | Top Critics (81) | Fresh (245) | Rotten (46)
Malick’s earnest pretentiousness surely invites derisive laughter. But it also withstands it, and like the ancient evergreen of its title, it towers benevolently over less ambitious movies…
April 6, 2020
Adam Nayman
The Ringer
TOP CRITIC
The Tree of Life in no way measured up.
August 27, 2019
Amy Taubin
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Ideally, you would bathe in a film like this without striving to decipher it. As it’s a film about what we can’t get our heads around, we are probably not meant to get our heads round it. But, even so, it is so audacious it will take your breath away.
August 31, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
… it’s too bad what could have been a beautifully crushing family drama was usurped by a massive amount of unnecessary special effects clouding the real story.
September 8, 2017 | Rating: C
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
The tone of the film is mesmeric, transcendent, awe-inspiring.
July 12, 2011 | Rating: 4.5/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
It’s difficult to shake the sense of it as the spectacle of a man gone deep-sea diving in his own navel.
July 12, 2011
Michael Atkinson
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
A beautiful reflection in its bipolar structure, that fluidly equates the cosmic with the intimate. [Full review in Spanish]
June 22, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
Sergi Sánchez
Fotogramas
Worth watching for Lubezki’s cinematography alone. A beautiful look at life from a microscopic level to the enormity of the universe.
October 9, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Rosa Parra
Latinx Lens
2 Bored 2 Beautiful
October 2, 2021
Don Shanahan
Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast
You’ll exit wanting three hours of your life back, a long hug, some ice cream, and your brain reprogrammed.
March 17, 2021 | Rating: 1/5
Don Shanahan
25YL (25 Years Later)
By juxtaposing the tiny, “mundane” human with the towering, colossal setting in which we exist, it’s almost impossible not to imagine that there must be rhyme and reason behind the sheer magnitude of this imagery.
November 3, 2020 | Rating: 4.5/5
Mark Jackson
Epoch Times
Its neatest trick is that it feels like a Malick autobiography even as it directly speaks to receptive viewers on a one-to-one basis. It’s cinema as a give-and-take relationship: The movie can only provide as much as the viewer is willing to put into it.
November 2, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy…
Plot
In “The Tree of Life,” a man reflects on his childhood in small-town Texas and his contentious relationship with his father, while grappling with bigger existential issues as an adult.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film on Fresh Kernels.
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