An ambitious project spanning multiple timelines, Cloud Atlas is a crowning glory of achievement for directors Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer. The movie is told in six distinct timelines, ranging from the 19th Century to the present day, the future, and even an ambiguous period that, in this intricate jigsaw puzzle of a movie, becomes the last piece that brings the entire picture into perspective. Things become more surreal as the same set of actors play different roles in the six different threads, not even strictly sticking to protagonist/antagonist roles. Adapted from a book of the same name, Cloud Atlas does a phenomenal job of presenting intertwining storylines yet never losing out to over-complication. Over the course of this 171 minute epic, a little bit of patience can be a highly rewarding experience. It is difficult to even start explaining what the plot is about, especially as each of the six storylines follows different goals. The movie gets confusing before things start to make sense, but the reward of experiencing it whole is cinematic wonder.
Rating: 
