Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Wuchak "The Cry of the Owl" is a 2009 Canadian psychological-drama with thriller elements based on the Patricia Highsmith novel. The story revolves around Robert Forrester (Paddy Considine) who has a great job, but is in the process of a divorce and has recently moved out of the big city. He becomes intrigued by a random girl he spots at a country house and secretly gazes at her from the woods at night. A relationship eventually develops and the girl, Jenny (Julia Stiles), starts overly-monitoring him and he begins to regret the relationship. Meanwhile, Jenny's ex (James Gilbert) isn't happy about the situation and neither is Robert's ex (Caroline Dhavernas). The situation soon spirals out of control.The story is fairly engaging and the actors are effective, particularly Considine as the protagonist, but the ending is ambiguous and left to interpretation. Regardless, the themes are intriguing: romanticism vs. logic, fate and fatalism vs. chance encounter, omens and signs vs. random happenings and the irony of role reversal or reaping what you sow.It's not great and it's too pessimistic -- probably because it's really a tragedy -- but it's a solid psycho-drama with intriguing ideas that'll leave you pondering or scratching your head. The latter is why many people don't like it.The film runs 100 minutes and was shot in Ontario.GRADE: B

lathe-of-heaven I just finished watching this movie for the SECOND time...I knew I had seen it a while ago, but I couldn't quite remember what was going to happen. MAN, what a Suspenser! The mood, the style, the Suspense... The director frigg'n NAILED it. The look, the writing, the performances were all top notch.I remember when I saw this the first time that I didn't really care for the lead guy too much; he was really just SO annoying because he didn't seem to be able to communicate with others at all. VERY frustrating... But, as the film progresses you begin to see other sides to him and he is not at all as self-absorbed and one dimensional as one may have thought.Talk about PSYCHOLOGICAL... I think this is just about as psychological as a Thriller can get, unless of course you venture into Horror territory where you have masterful films like 'SESSION 9', for example. The characters are well portrayed. When Julia Styles and Paddy first meet it is amazing; I would think that it would be very DIFFICULT to do a scene like that and be CONVINCING, enough to draw the audience into the story as much as it did. And then, when you first meet Paddy's almost ex-wife... Talk about a mind-bender. You are seeing some absolutely first rate writing, directing, and acting here, let me tell you...Normally, speaking very broadly, I do not usually care for films like this; where happenstance, fate, or whatEVER draws these innocent people into this web of disaster, no matter what they do. BUT... in this case, the film is done SO damn well that you truly have NO choice but to ride along, gripping your @ss the whole time, hoping and praying for the best. That is, unless you happen to be one of these vacuous reviewers here who are so jaded, bored, and clueless, that they wouldn't know a good film if it went down on them (so to speak...)Seriously....Bottom line... this is an exceptionally well done film with Suspense and Tension dripping out of every orifice (the film's, not yours...) It will take you and smack you around until you bloody well beg for mercy...

Chrysanthepop 'The Cry of the Owl' has a wicked sense of humour. On the surface, it may appear as a thriller but it is more of a dark comedy with subtle humour. After all one cannot fail to see the irony in the premise: a stalker being stalked by his stalker. Of course, once the premise is introduced this oddly absurd movie, the story turns into a game of jealousy, betrayal and murder.The execution is quite interesting. It has an old fashioned look to it. Most of the visuals are quite photographic. The slightly washed out colour give it a gloomy look reflecting the colourless lives of the characters. Most of the film is seen through Robert's point of view and the twists are surprising.The film is philosophical too. Robert stalks Jenny because she represents the illusion of happiness. However, once Jenny invites him in, this illusion is shattered and he loses interest in her. In a later scene, he describes to his wife Nickie that the first time he saw her, she was like a beautiful statue and then she moved, and it was all downhill. He seems to be more fascinated by an illusion of perfection and is put off by the humanness of people.Jenny, on the other hand, who is more messed up than Robert, thinks it's fate and that they should be together. She immediately dumps her boyfriend and stalks Robert but eventually she too realizes that her illusion is shattered and the more she tries to cling on the further he slips away. In a way, Nickie too tries to hold on to Robert and, in event, uses more extreme measures. Ideals and illusions are what instigates trouble in these characters' lives.Paddy Considine is excellent as the awkward, passive, neurotic loner Robert. Julia Stiles is mostly very good as the pretty Jenny (even though there are a few sequences were she's a little off as she fails to depict Jenny's anguish and despair convincingly). Caroline Dhavernas is terrific as Jenny's more sexually aggressive counterpart. James Gilbert is irritating.Subtle and quiet, yet dark, funny and even twisted, 'The Cry of the Owl' is a well-crafted little film.

clint_hamilton_1 I recently watched the film The Cry Of The Owl and found it quite thought provoking. I did fear it was going to be a case of a slow, dull film with an empty conclusion, but was very surprised. It is a film that begs to be discussed as no doubt everyone would have a different thought on it. But is that actually a bad thing as some previous reviews seem to think? Not everyone wants to be spoon fed a story.The main question you are asked at the start of the film is why is the main character Robert, a seemingly popular friendly man with a good job obsessed with watching Jenny in the window? The film delivers what i think is a very satisfying and intriguing answer by the end. The closing shot also, makes the film feel complete.I have read previous reviews of the film and some people have found fault with the plot by saying its not true to life and these events would be unlikely in the real world. I think others may argue against that but really, they are missing the point. This is a story with questions embroiled in the human psyche and a plot closer in essence to a Shakespearian tragedy then a true to life story. This is not a 'Imagine if this happened to you film' nor is it a Hollywood thriller/slasher movie with a nice neat ending.The black comedy came from the realisation that the character of Robert, despite his past history of mental illness and recently suffering a breakdown, was, compared to the other characters the most sane. Maybe that says something about the world we live in.