Name : Michael O'Sullivan / Alias : Washington Post
The characters in "Aloft" seem to float over their strong passions, like birds riding on columns of air, without ever alighting.

Name : Ben Sachs / Alias : Chicago Reader
The story doesn't add up to much, but the stark natural imagery and frank discussions of spiritual longing leave strong impressions.

Name : Lindsey Bahr / Alias : Associated Press
The majority of the film strives for ethereal lyricism but the melodrama of these lives never proves strong enough to anchor any real emotional connection.

Name : Andrew Lapin / Alias : NPR
The entire flashback structure is building toward one of those twist endings that the characters would already know, but that's being deliberately withheld from the audience in an attempt at suspense.

Name : Katharine Pushkar / Alias : New York Daily News
Deep - deep! - in this impenetrable block of ice is an actual, OK story. But the patience it takes to get to it? The return on investment just isn't there.

Name : Inkoo Kang / Alias : TheWrap
"Adrift" is a more fitting title for this unmoored and glacially paced star vehicle, which prizes exasperating inscrutability over effective storytelling.

Name : A.A. Dowd / Alias : AV Club
Even those incapable of getting ahead of the film's big reveal . will probably lose interest before all the cards are laid on the table. What's really been withheld, in this dreary drag of a movie, is a reason to care.

Name : Chris Nashawaty / Alias : Entertainment Weekly
Like a car mirror warning that objects may be closer than they appear, director Claudia Llosa's chilly New Age drama gives off a deceptive sense of depth.

Name : Michael Nordine / Alias : Village Voice
Ambitious aesthetics aren't matched by Llosa's overly opaque approach; what's meant to seem artfully understated most often results in confusion over basic details.

Name : Bruce Demara / Alias : Toronto Star
It's a meditative and intriguing tale filled with mystical imagery that never reveals all of its secrets. That's a good thing.

Name : Richard Roeper / Alias : Chicago Sun-Times
Some movies practically dare you to give up. "Aloft" is a beautifully shot, frustratingly vague and deeply ponderous mystery/spiritual journey about terminally unhappy souls.

Name : Mick LaSalle / Alias : San Francisco Chronicle
One problem with "Aloft" is that the audience is never made to care about Ivan. All we know is that he's repellent.

Name : Tom Russo / Alias : Boston Globe
Llosa's film pushes its enigmatic and quietly brooding qualities to the point that it's inaccessible, despite some mildly intriguing spiritual story elements and skilled performances .

Name : Bilge Ebiri / Alias : New York Magazine/Vulture
Aloft is ultimately a movie about our need to keep moving and searching. And at times, it's quite a lovely one.

Name : A.O. Scott / Alias : New York Times
For all its brooding atmosphere and visual poeticism, the film offers a perspective on the lives of its characters that feels narrow and superficial.

Name : Rebecca Keegan / Alias : Los Angeles Times
"Aloft" sets up a compelling mystery - how could a loving mother abandon her son? - and then, frustratingly, refuses to solve it.

Name : Sara Stewart / Alias : New York Post
Llosa's tableaus are also striking - there is a suggestion here that this is an impoverished, futuristic wasteland - but their back story is elusive to the point of meaninglessness.

Name : Brad Wheeler / Alias : Globe and Mail
The truth is elusive, and so is Aloft. Maybe viewers will figure it out cleaner than this reviewer did. And maybe the best answers aren't served on platters.