Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Best movie ever!

A lot of fun.

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

I read some reviews about Backlight and some of them are really bad. Bad in a way that they aren't argued enough. I think that all the people should have an opinion but the opinions must have facts and things with meaning. That's why I think that I have a few things to say... First of all, Backlight is a fantastic movie and If you have some doubts about what I said, please, watch the movie again and try to understand it. Watch a movie is not just see what is in the screen, is see something through the screen! A message to the world. Cinema is an art that send messages in a single way. Through sound, image and, the most important, a story. The soundtrack of Backlight is amazing. Please, listen with attention. Santos e Pecadores, Nuno Maló... You don't know them? Well sometimes its good, because I know some "artists" and I would prefer don't know them. The movie don't have special effects like Transformers or War of the Worlds? Yes, its a fact! But I have a very good explanation for that: Money! Please remember that Fernando Fragata is Portuguese and don't have so many sponsors like Spielberg. He made the movie with some help but, essentially alone. Yes, alone... Can you imagine what is make a movie in these conditions? OK, we all have difficulties in life. I just wrote this for you understand that, like Fernando Fragata said "I didn't make the movies that I would like, but I did the movies that were possible to me". You want throw a stone for that? Please, be my guest, but remember that a movie is much more than that. Art is about passion, feelings. The story of Backlight is really good! The way that all the things fit until the final apotheosis is brilliant! The meaning in the objects are so amazing. Don't have a meaning but, the beauty is that somethings in life don't have a meaning. You just feel... You just listen some voices that are saying to you to go ahead. Also the GPS story is a true story of a women that died in a car crash and the husband took the gps and went the last address. The last address was a orphanage. The women was infertile and was thinking in adopt a child. All the story of Backlight is about real stories that Fernando saw. Is not an empty story with no meaning. Is something with a little magic (the magic in the objects) that make us to believe in things like that. You don't need a good camera or be in amazing places to make a good movie, you just need to have passion! A good Story! To make people forget their lives or, maybe, thinking in life and in human condition. OK, I like special effects and good monsters and wars but, first of all, I like a good Story! A meaning. If you are looking for some crap with famous actors, amazing effects, no meaning, poorly argued and an empty story like a cliché, please don't see this. See a Hollywood crap. Otherwise if you are looking for a good movie, with so many passion, meaning and a brilliant story, well, then you must see Backlight.

Backlight is one of the best films I've seen this year. There are various ways this film can be read and a number of messages implied from the various stories of the characters. What makes this film superb is how the path of each characters determines and influences the other character's lives. There are also solid performances although the are no big stars in the cast. It's an independent film but shot extremely well which makes it look rather mainstream like a high budget film. The script is also brilliant with nicely fleshed out characters and plots which intertwine neatly in the end to show how everything is related. By all honesty this movie is so inspiring that I was yanked back in my seat by emotion. It is a rare movie which made me think about the meaning of life and how we are all connected to each other. Most movies I've seen have no purpose or meaning of any kind. This had it all, plus cliffhangers that went on. Lucy' story is full of suspense and all the other stories mixed together are so emotional. Every single frame of the film is filled with a purpose. Each word and action accounted for some point later on. It is so pleasing finding a script that controls me and makes me look like an idiot in the face of perfection.

Backlight is a brilliant script: A great story, with nicely shaped characters whom, one way or another, got me thinking "Sometimes, life is so full of coincidences that it's almost unreal.". Obviously, it doesn't matter how strong the script is, if it's transformation to the big screen is sloppy, but with Backlight, everything works in perfection. The multi layered story has been excellently transferred to the screen and the final product is like a perfectly tuned symphony: No note is false, and as the band plays, you get swept away by their music. One of the reasons for this, is a great cast, of whom I think, no one deserves more credit than others... and then again: I really loved Joaquim De Almeida, but above all the memorable character of Lucy, played by the young actress Skyler Day. She will always shine brightly in my mind. A definitely must see movie!

I was really excited to go and see this movie in the theater. It seemed interesting enough, conveying some kind of powerful message, and i usually like these kinds of movies. But halfway through the film i was already feeling really disappointed. The story is pretty predictable (i kinda guessed the end halfway through the movie), basic and a bit blah. You keep expecting it too pick up but it never does. It's entertaining enough (it didn't bore me to death), but it lacks something. The relationship between the mother and the daughter is completely unrealistic, and so are the links that join all the characters together in the end. It's okay if you want to rent it from your local DVD rent store, but don't waste your money on a theater ticket.