For all the superficial hilarity of July's approach, a much sadder streak runs deep through the entire film, reinforced by Jon Brion's score (more tones than melody). Still, it's curious that this is the feeling she chooses to leave us with in the end.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
The magical, metaphorical strain in The Future is what makes it powerful, unsettling and strange, as well as charming. The everyday fears and frustrations that shadow us on our awkward trip through the life cycle often feel enormous, even cosmic, and Ms. July has the audacity to find images and situations that give form to those metaphysical inklings.
Slant Magazine by Andrew Schenker
Of all the vaguely philosophical, calculatedly left-of-center dialogue that peppers Miranda July's The Future, no line is more telling than the writer/director/star's late-film declaration, in the guise of her character Sophie, that "I'm saying okay to nothing."
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
This could be the premise of a zany comedy, but the mood of The Future is, from the outset, defeatist - annoyingly defeatist, to be frank.
As the portrait of a relationship meltdown involving two eccentric creative types prone to self-doubt, July's sophomore feature bears a strong resemblance to husband Mike Mills's upcoming "Beginners," although July's version of the story has a more experimental edge.
Sophie's (or is it July's?) coy narcissism becomes a criticism of itself, and her "sadness" turns into something truly sad. In short, I have seen The Future and it's heartbreaking.
The mood of this movie will brew with you for a while, even if it swirls around characters who aren't quite persuasive.
July is more of a presence than an actress, or even a believable persona.
The Future's main characters are, undeniably, dopes. But July and Linklater turn their ineptitude into a funny running joke, which becomes surprisingly affecting in the second half.
Boxoffice Magazine by Ray Greene
July has mounted a surrealist fable about the delicate balance between relationships and the inner monologue inside each lover, with its incessant demands and individual needs. Unevenness is an aesthetic here - not so much a flaw as a conscious choice.