Aside from a few exceptions, I firmly believe movies ought to make sense. It should be the second rule of filmmaking right behind entertainment value, or in some cases, interesting subject matter, depending on the genre. I was watching this one movie the other day, and while it seemed to go OK for a while, it occured to me about half way through that I hadn't a single fucking clue as to what was happening or who anyone was. Not exactly the first time I've lost track of a storyline but I'm positive it wasn't just me this time. I'll admit I was a little high, but I don't get THAT high!

There's this young woman stuck on an island, barely surviving. She has this shack built for herself to live in. One day, she accidentally burns the thing down, then immediately decides to walk off and go home, ultimately revealing that this is merely a beach. A beach this person has been living on for eight years for... uh, reasons. We are then introduced to this depressed British family who doesn't seem particularly happy with each other or themselves. There's this older man, his overly-dependant, alcoholic wife in a wheelchair, some other young woman, and a little girl, who seems like she might be the center of the story... Whatever that means. Nobody seems to think very highly of the older man, except maybe the little girl. They seem to have some kind of special bond. I'm not sure what he is to her or who he is to anyone accept the wife, probably making him the step dad to the older girl. But, man, she sure hates his ass. However the reason for this is never revealed. I'm pretty sure the little girl isn't her daughter. We're later left to assume she might be the daughter of the one from the beach.

The one from beach land has now made her way back into town, and with the help of some guy, she kidnaps (reclaims?) the little girl from the older man when she spots them out in public one day. He doesn't take this well and aims to do something about it. The woman from the beach seems more or less feral, incapable of speaking, so, she can't confirm that she's the mother or what she wants to do now that she has the little girl in her possession, which makes for some very pointless scenes. She kind of reminds me of the woman from that movie, The Woman (2011). Just not as dirty or as savage-like. Still not particularly reasonable. No idea how living on a beach for eight years makes someone act like this. Especially forgetting how to talk and shit. This mystery beach person seems to really despise the older man, who might be her step-father, but this is never confirmed or even brought up. It's possible the woman in the wheelchair and the other young woman back at home are her mother and sister, but it is never acknowledged one way or the other. If that's true, then they don't give a shit and barely noticed that they were missing a family member for nearly a decade. We're left to make assumptions as to how everyone in this movie is connected/related, making it impossible to know what the fuck all of this is about and what everyone's deal is. But there is certainly a problem, aside from the little girl being kidnapped, I mean. There is an obvious lack of communication. Not only between the characters, but between the writer and the viewer.

Near the end, an attempt is made to explain how and why this pissed off mute was banished to the beach for eight years in a quick flashback where the older man is seen putting her in a bearhug and dropping her off a cliff onto the beach. I feel like there was some kind of secret he was afraid of getting out and/or back to the wife, and ridding this person of his life must have been the only way to deal with this problem. Did he fuck her or something? Is that little girl his? Is he actually related to anyone? I take it he's the bad guy, because throwing someone off a cliff is rarely justified this day in time. Why the hell did this woman just stay on the beach for all those years and let that guy get away with whatever it was he did? If, for some reason, she felt unwanted by everyone else, why not just go home and be all like "fuck you guys" and then get her own place?

There was another flashback earlier on which takes place before the bearhug of doom where overly-dependant wheelchair wife is being physically abusive to beach girl and gets herself knocked down the stairs, most likely explaining her legs not working anymore and more or less confirming their relation. I wouldn't necessarily call Seagull a bad movie. At least it doesn't seem to be if you don't pay too close attention. Had certain necessary details not been forgotten, this might have been pretty good. But they were, so, we're left scratching our heads. At least I was. And just to be extra sure it wasn't just me, I got a second opinion before writing this. So, yeah, like I said. I don't get quite THAT high, but apparently, somebody out there does. 3/10