'Aloft': EW review

Like a car mirror warning that objects may be closer than they appear, director Claudia Llosa’s chilly New Age drama gives off a deceptive sense of depth. Jennifer Connelly stars as a mother who may possess mystical healing powers and who abandoned her son (played by Cillian Murphy as an adult) after a childhood tragedy, revealed in flashbacks. Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) gives the film’s most expressive performance as a journalist who persuades Murphy’s character to travel to the Arctic to reconcile with his hermetic mom. For some reason, falconry is a crucial metaphor in this exasperatingly withholding story, although I couldn’t tell you why. C

• By Chris Nashawaty