Like Never Before

A psychological drama that is a difficult-to-digest probe into the thought processes of the characters, their relationships, motivations and conflicts. The excellent acting of Petra Špalková, Jiří Schmitzer and Taťjana Medvecká are combined with the great screenplay of the debuting author and the precise directing of Zdeněk Tyc, who has obviously managed to uncompromisingly realize his vision. The characters are extremely well written and the dialogues intelligent. More than ever, this Czech film is of exceptional quality. (05/07/2014)

A toned down picture which paradoxically would have benefitted from being even more toned down and primarily less shallow. Departure, the true face of love, father-son relationship... It bites into many themes. But most of them stop at that bite, however juicy these themes are. But I would have welcomed fewer mouthfuls, but more substantial. Not introducing more and more characters as the movie advances and naively addressing timeless themes, but to sticking with the untraditional Karla - Vlada - Jaruna relationship triangle would have been more than enough. (17/09/2013)

Great performances by the central trio, but unfortunately they don't lead anywhere. It's as if the film wanted to say a lot about life and death, but in the end, it only stayed halfway and said almost nothing. It's a shame, because the film is well-made, and has some interesting scenes, but it still feels like it doesn't give you much. (24/05/2016)

Zdeněk Tyc and other encounters with depression, death, individualism, strong acting performances, and very interesting dialogues. Indeed, the etudes of Špalková and Medvecká often resemble a staged theatrical duet, while Schmitzer just exists through the role, and the ending is truly a full-fledged catharsis. So we could actually find Zdeněk? The paths of his career are indeed winding. (01/08/2015)

Profound thoughts twisted by bizarre psychology and a promisingly provocative topic destroyed by questionable acting performances. No disrespect to Jiří Schmitzer or Petra Špalková, who literally work themselves to the bone, but when two shrilly alienating scenes overshadow one honestly delivered scene, I don't have much to draw on. Producer Ondřej Trojan was quotes as saying after the screening that they managed to create something hard to find in Czech cinema, but there is a lot of it at international festivals – a well-made drama about death and dying. That said, if there was anything of that to be found in the dozens of unnecessarily tiresome shots of glasses, wheels, and landscapes, I certainly didn't find it. (17/09/2013)