[It] would be much easier to write off as silly and self-serious, if it weren't so involving.

| Mar 18, 2012

It's well worth seeing the performance of young Morgana Davies as Simone, a child who becomes convinced that her late father speaks and listens to her through the comforting branches of the tree next to her house.

| Jan 5, 2012

In the end, The Tree is something of a stretch; but it's a good stretch, a mix of mysticism and family dynamics both satisfying and intriguing.

| Original Score: B | Nov 4, 2011

Pacing problems and shallow psychological inquiries plague this film almost as much as the overworked metaphor that supplies the film's title.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 30, 2011

"The Tree" might have suffered from too much symbolism if not for writer-director Julie Bertuccelli's deft touch and Gainsbourg's appealing performance.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 2, 2011

Despite the potential for some supernatural grandiosity, the tone here remains understated and quiet, and Gainsbourg's performance feels lived-in, and deep, and right.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 25, 2011

Beautifully filmed in the harsh, dry landscape, "The Tree" is often mesmerizing...

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 11, 2011

Expert at being riven, by grief, sex or just about anything else, Gainsbourg is as intense as ever.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 5, 2011

The imagery is almost unendurably self-conscious, and Gainsbourg, with her low, musical, murmuring voice, gives the kind of performance you suspect she can do standing on her head. Her final lines are irritating beyond belief.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 4, 2011

The characters grandstand and goof off with increasing glumness.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 4, 2011

Gainsbourg's skilful but customarily tense performance can make the whole thing a slightly brittle experience - imagine how Toni Collette might have warmed the general aura.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 4, 2011

Slow, overlong and short on emotion.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 4, 2011

Unusual and endearing.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 3, 2011

An eerie and unsettling adaptation of Judy Pascoe's novel that impresses more for its atmospherics than its narrative.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 1, 2011

It's simply vagueness.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 28, 2011

It's not exactly subtle. But it works.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 21, 2011

Bertuccelli uses the scrubbed topography of Queensland, Australia, to mostly eloquent effect, although her mystical symbols can be as on-the-nose as her dialogue.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 21, 2011

What makes The Tree feel like a movie about actual people and not just writer's constructs are the powerful performances by Gainsbourg and young Davies.

| Jul 21, 2011

This is an easy movie to watch. If only Julie Bertuccelli had more trust in her most interesting stuff.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 21, 2011

A movie that's content to stand still.

| Original Score: C+ | Jul 20, 2011