"'Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?'"

The cinematic equivalent of a Requiem Mass, and dare I say, the best film ever made. Every shot, music choice, acting moment, and question it raises is thing of wonder. I doubt we'll ever see anything like this for a long time. If ever.

Much like the famous Requiems, the film grieves over the reality of death, questions why the Lord allows bad things to transpire on His once-perfect Creation, and ultimately, ends with an affirmation of God's sovereignty over all. The theme is right there from the start; God's response to Job after questioning his authority. In this case, we (and by extension, Jack) are Job, having been shown the glory of the Lord in an answer to our troubling situations. If wasn't clear beforehand, Malick has an aptitude for telling this kind of a story, and here, it feels like it was geared directly at my heart the whole time. To quote my friend Travis, "it is good. I mean that in the traditional sense of the word;" it's filled with so much goodness that it transcends what we know as "good." But further from that, The Tree of Life is a bold, transcendent work of art, showing nothing but the utmost respect for the One that created art in the first place. It's a film that feels constantly reverent (what with all of the upward angles to the heavens). And don't even get me started on the perfection of the Creation sequence (it gives Kubrick's visuals a run for their money). It was so good that I lost track of time, and I just wanted to keep living in this world Malick had crafted - and what a beautiful world it is. The fact of the matter is plain: yes, we do live in rough times. I mean, just look at the world around us. Disease, war, political upheaval. But what can we learn? The truth: that God is never taken by surprise by any events that transpire and always makes it for His good and glory.

Jack in the film is plagued by not only internal struggles of faith, doubt, and temptation, but also outward struggles like abuse, death, and hypocrisy. And it radically changes him. Heck, if I had a father constantly beating down on me that I was never good enough, physically harming me, and yelling at my mother, I would have issues with life, too. But what Jack sees throughout the film is that though worldly things are here and valid for the present, heavenly things are forever and pure. You can choose to let your suffering dictate your life, or you can choose to remain faithful and set your mind to things that are good and true. And, like poetry, in the end, we see God's plan at work - the suffering made pure through forgiveness, peace, grace, and love. Jack accepts that God was always leading him right back into his arms. And as if we were at the benediction of a Mass service, a choir chants the hope of the story in the background: "Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them everlasting rest… Hear my prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come. Grant the dead eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine on them, with Thy saints for ever, Lord, because Thou art merciful. Amen.”

So, yeah. If you hadn't gathered, this is my new favorite movie. And it's gonna stay that way for a long time. Art in its truest and purest form.