A Hidden Life: Lived out in the open

Long and lingering, Terrence Malick's movies are kind to the audience. Should you need to use the facilities, by all means, get up and go without fear of missing anything.

That is not to say that the Movie Slut didn't relish every minute of the three-hour screen time.

The cinematography is exquisite, the acting superb, and the story engrossing. The experience is hypnotic.

The action revolves around an Austrian farmer whose moral compass will not allow him to sign an oath of allegiance to Hitler. It's not that he has to fight for the Nazi cause. He can work in a hospital instead.

Still, no can do.

The repercussions are dire. This is not an upbeat, begin-the-new-year-with-a-smile movie. But it will make you think.