A triumph of aesthetic pleasures more than of modernist re-conceived medieval tale, so much that I weirdly enjoy this in the same vein as I would a well-done, more mainstream blockbuster. Especially during the middle stretch, I feel there's a push-and-pull between the simple signposts of the original tale and the portentous arthouse pacing, so that it becomes murky and coasts by on style more than actual depth or storytelling. But that style is pretty magnificent though, creating a world of woozy, extremely tactile atmosphere that you could get lost in for days. Plus, it helps that this begins and ends very strong; I wouldn't have expected Lowery to arrive at a montage that reaches for the time-contracting sublime in the similar thematic and emotional manner as A Ghost Story, but that makes the film land on quite a powerhouse finale. 8/10