Sounds like you were more focused on the promised destination than the journey

I watched my wife play Journey. She doesn’t usually play video games, usually just watches me play. When I saw another player take her under their wing I thought they might get impatient and leave her behind because she likes to spend time exploring the environment. But this other player stayed with her for the ENTIRE game, helping her, showing her around, and being patient while she explored. She lost track of the other player during one level and I thought their time together might be over… but when she got towards the ends of the level the other player was waiting for her and they both jumped around with joy when they were reunited. I was so taken in by the patience of this player and the culture of the game itself that I stayed and watched the whole thing from beginning to end. Sometimes I find myself thinking that there will come a day when everyone has moved on. A day when someone new will pick up Journey for the first time, only to find a world devoid of other players, and it leaves me with a sense of loss.

It’s so mind bogglingly short and void of anything meaningful I hesitate to even call it a game in any sense other than it’s technically interactive, I’ve played far better games that came out a generation earlier that cost less and had a far more profound impact on me (Ico, Shadow of the colossus, Limbo).

As with most online games, you had to be there. In 2023, maybe it's too late to be wowed by another player in the world, travelling by your side. Maybe it was too late the moment you learned about it from an outside source. I remember my surprise when the figure I assumed was a guiding npc started showing clear signs of life, and I don't think it would land the same in today's world where online integration is so common in single-player games.

Here, with Denis Lavant's character becoming different people throughout the film, starts off confusing, but just becomes a blast if you just go with it. It's nice to sit in a theater and feel like you're in the hands of a director who's taking you for a ride and not know where things will go.

Don't underplay its entertainment value; this film is an experience before a thought-process. I took my friend to see this movie, and although he did laugh, he left struggling, still trying to 'get it'. If you don't get the emotions first, you definitely won't get the ideas. Tom Long writes a great review emphasizing this, and adds, "By the time this film's over, you're shaken, intrigued and reminded that art doesn't need to add up to be entrancing."

The accordion interlude is far and away the most captivating part of the film for me. I found it to be a worthwhile and puzzling film to watch, constantly keeping me alert to what scenario would be brought to life…but they all feel a little hollow by the end. Something about that musical interlude though is so invigorating; I watch that stand-alone scene all the time.

I am grateful to live in a world with art like Holy Motors, where people take absurd chances. It's a better world, with artists like that. I will not recommend the movie to anyone.