Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Set against the unforgiving ocean and the flat, soggy marshes of the coast of southern England, the scene will evoke delightful nostalgia in anyone who's spent time as a youth in any of these places. Right under the surface of this apparently mundane coastal community lies passion, obsession and terrible misfortune. Around the edge is inequity and injustice.Winterbottom achieves a highly erotic mood and the film is punctuated with frank and realistic sexuality which on it's own may be labeled pornographic (especially in the MPAA circuits). The director effectively addresses the dilemmas of human sexuality and hammers home the cruelty of the human condition.All of the acting is great and the cinematography accurately delivers the location to your imagination. Rachel Weisz can be seen here in her element. Younger and somewhat thicker set than she has become, she seethes with sexuality whilst remaining demure. She is the the enigma of this film and if you've ever known a young woman to whom all men are hopelessly, somewhat inexplicably attracted, you'll see her in Weisz's Helen.I recommend this film to anyone who likes intelligent erotica and tragedy. Also anyone who's grown up around rural coastal Britain (or wants insight into it) will love this.

The story, cinematography, music score, acting is excellent. Also, listen attentively for the last replic to be heard as the end credits begin to roll: it is NOT simply a re-playing of one of the familiar recordings the mute boy made, but includes a significant re-edit, which he has apparently made, which drives home the whole point of the movie very forcefully.

One of the best movies I have seen this year. Michael Winterbottom proves to be a truly versatile director with this film about love, loneliness, sorrow and obsession in an English coastal town. The use of Elvis Costello's song "I want you" as a theme throughout the film is superb. It leaves you with a strange and yearning sensation that will last for days. The cinematography is so very good, thanks to Kieslowskis photographer Zlavomir Idziak who also filmed "Gattaca" creating a similar visual style. Wonderful yellow, green and blue renders a supernatural, poetic feel to the characters as well as the town. You watch with the feeling that anything can happen, and it does.The casting of this movie is almost perfect. Rachel Weisz is equally true as the both innocent and dangerous Helen as she was in "The Mummy" playing a librarian with vigour, looks and brains. I predict hers to be a great career. Make way, Kate Winslet and Helena Bonham-Carter! Alessandro Nivola as Martin is just as persuasive. He is scary, touching, pathetic and assertive all at the same time, consumed by an obsession with Helen fuelled by eight years in jail.The only thing that bothers me about this movie is the way it abandons the mute boy and his sister's story to concentrate on Helen and Martin. However, this is a minor detail in a movie that often bears visual reminders of Derek Jarman at his very best. The very self-conscious references to "Romeo is bleeding" and "Red rock west" will probably ensure a similar cult-following before long.

'I Want You' is unique, transcending British cinema in one easy leap. What the film offers that makes it special is a portrait of obsessive desire and compulsion framed quite brazenly in an English coastal town. Cinematographer Slawomir Idziak (of Three Colours Red/White and Blue fame) commits to celluloid a most distinct and unfamiliar slice of life in a claustrophobic town, complimented superbly with Winterbottom's direction.The cast although largely unknown (with the exception of Weisz and Nirvola) effortlessly demand attention and understanding and the development of these characters is really what the film is all about.'I Want You' consciously refers back to cult films like 'Red Rock West' and 'Romeo is Bleeding' and here it seems Micheal Winterbottom may just have produced an English answer.