Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

dotto-divad Thomas est amoureux (Thomas in Love) is perhaps one of the most unique and interesting films that I've seen. Although the introduction featuring 'Sextoon' could easily make it dismissable as a film about sex, hang on for a bit and you will discover quite an intelligent film.It is the not-too-distant future and Thomas is an agoraphobe (one with fear of open air) who has kept himself in his apartment for eight years, communicating only by videophone functionality on his computer. He is advised to try dating services by his psychologist and meets women via the service, one of which starts to change his life.The entire movie is filmed from the perspective of Thomas' computer screen, this itself gives the film a very unique effect. What also makes this movie interesting is Thomas' development of character - not only is it done very well, it is interesting to see how love can affect an agoraphobe, how he affects other people via the videophone, and how other people affect him. The way the future is portrayed is also quite interesting.There isn't much to criticise the movie on (one could argue that there was quite a bit of explicit content, but it does seem necessary). That said, it isn't really a masterpiece. But it's still an interesting and impressive film. Recommended.

xx_deleted_xx ***caution: may contains SPOILERS*** "Thomas in Love" is an obscure, offbeat, but truly amazing and original film. There's probably a few reasons why it's so obscure; it's from Belgium (which isn't really famous for its films), it was released by a tiny independent company in North America, and it was unfairly handed an NC-17 rating. The main character, Thomas, is an agoraphobe who hasn't left his house or had anyone inside of his house for 8 years. The film is all about his day-to-day interaction through his "visiophone", including mother/son interaction, dating clubs, insurance agents, psychologists, and even an online prostitute service and cybersex! First of all, the film is told entirely from the first person point of view. We never see the main character, Thomas, at all. We only hear his voice. Since Thomas is agoraphobic, this unique narrative really lets us become his character and feel his illness, and all of the isolation, loneliness and heartache he is going through. The idea that the film takes place entirely from images on Thomas' "visiophone" (basically a futuristic combination of a computer, telephone and webcam) may sound a bit boring to some.. but the director keeps things interesting by giving us tons of unique visuals, snarky dialogue and a number of unpredictably interesting situations for us to follow. One interesting touch in particular is the video feedback of the people that Thomas communicates with; the video quality of each person's visiophone basically indicates their financial status, which I thought was a nice touch. The film is very evenly paced; the director opts to keep things short and sweet rather than dragging things out and going for excess. This keeps the film engrossing and ensures that there will not be any boring moments. He leaves a lot of things (especially the ending) wide open for us to think about. This film serves as many things... it's about a mental illness, but it is also a piece of social commentary about how the internet can possibly change the way we communicate even further than it already has.... not to mention, the possibilitlies it has for reclusive people. In a way, too, it is also like a futuristic sci-fi movie. Is this what the future will be like, with visiophones and cybersex suits and online prostitutes? It's a very thought-provoking film, probably best seen with a group of people as it will make for great discussion afterwards. If you are tired of the typical mental illness films (ie - ones that are overly dramatic, sentimental, completely with a supposedly "award calibre" performance complete with weird facial movements and fluttering speech) then you should really give "Thomas in Love" a rental. Don't be misled by the NC-17 rating and the beginning of the film; this is not a pornographic cartoon, and the "Sextoon" thing is only a small part in the overall film. The ratings board should be slapped hard in the face for giving this film that rating; it is quite bad that this quite innocent film has a harsher rating than films like "8MM" and "Hannibal". But, considering that Americans are afraid of sex, it's not surprising. Anyway, if you're looking for a truly unique and original film-going experience, I would highly recommend this film to you. It is a beautiful film that deserves to become a cult favorite.

wildstrawbe This film takes place in an era where socialization isn't a priority or at least not as important as it was in the past. The main character of this film spends his whole life inside his house and in front of his computer, where he meets his doctor, talks to his mother and makes love. What's amazing about this film is how real Thomas' character is. It's easy to imagine ourselves behaving the way Thomas behaves. His final heroic exodus is a cliche that can be found in most techno-phobic movies, but I don't think this film could be called techno-phobic. Oh and you're gonna love those painted faces! The most realistic futuristic film that I've seen for a while. And a touching love story.

coonyp I enjoyed this movie for a couple of reasons.Reminiscent of Paul Cox's "Lonely Hearts" it uses the love story format to illustrate the need for emotionally crippled people to connect. It also shows a future world of communications which rings very true because we are almost there. Unfortunately, the use of the first person camera ruins what could have been a truly great movie.The first person camera seems like a good cinematic idea but it is not. Instead of enhancing the viewer's emotional transference (which would be the goal), it detracts from it. The reason might be illustrated by the comments of a sensitive and attractive young lady I saw on a newsmagazine the other night. She had lost her sight and then recovered it. When asked what she had missed seeing most, her answer was immediate: "herself".Maybe someone in Hollywood will get a hold of this one and do it right.