Nothing shy of enthralling.

If you're in synch with its heartbeat, and with Reygadas' tendency to pursue visual detours that intensify the film's sensual impact, this is a remarkable first effort that is equal parts disturbing, bold, mysterious and primal.

The one thing that is clear from Japn is that a major new visual stylist has hit the screen and that Reygadas' first film represents the beginning of an auspicious career.

The filmmaker wants to be forceful, bold, enigmatic, but his conceptions about life are limited, so much of the work has the feeling of something done largely for effect.