My opinion"Thomas is in love" is at least that one can say a film ... weird, and the choice to never show the famous Thomas is interesting in itself, we only hear it in voice-over. Another film with false rhythms that also hurts the film, otherwise the idea is original, but for me it remains far too poor to make a good film.

***caution: may contains SPOILERS*** "Thomas in Love" is an obscure, offbeat, but truly amazing and original film. There's probably a few reasons why it's so obscure; it's from Belgium (which isn't really famous for its films), it was released by a tiny independent company in North America, and it was unfairly handed an NC-17 rating. The main character, Thomas, is an agoraphobe who hasn't left his house or had anyone inside of his house for 8 years. The film is all about his day-to-day interaction through his "visiophone", including mother/son interaction, dating clubs, insurance agents, psychologists, and even an online prostitute service and cybersex! First of all, the film is told entirely from the first person point of view. We never see the main character, Thomas, at all. We only hear his voice. Since Thomas is agoraphobic, this unique narrative really lets us become his character and feel his illness, and all of the isolation, loneliness and heartache he is going through. The idea that the film takes place entirely from images on Thomas' "visiophone" (basically a futuristic combination of a computer, telephone and webcam) may sound a bit boring to some.. but the director keeps things interesting by giving us tons of unique visuals, snarky dialogue and a number of unpredictably interesting situations for us to follow. One interesting touch in particular is the video feedback of the people that Thomas communicates with; the video quality of each person's visiophone basically indicates their financial status, which I thought was a nice touch. The film is very evenly paced; the director opts to keep things short and sweet rather than dragging things out and going for excess. This keeps the film engrossing and ensures that there will not be any boring moments. He leaves a lot of things (especially the ending) wide open for us to think about. This film serves as many things... it's about a mental illness, but it is also a piece of social commentary about how the internet can possibly change the way we communicate even further than it already has.... not to mention, the possibilitlies it has for reclusive people. In a way, too, it is also like a futuristic sci-fi movie. Is this what the future will be like, with visiophones and cybersex suits and online prostitutes? It's a very thought-provoking film, probably best seen with a group of people as it will make for great discussion afterwards. If you are tired of the typical mental illness films (ie - ones that are overly dramatic, sentimental, completely with a supposedly "award calibre" performance complete with weird facial movements and fluttering speech) then you should really give "Thomas in Love" a rental. Don't be misled by the NC-17 rating and the beginning of the film; this is not a pornographic cartoon, and the "Sextoon" thing is only a small part in the overall film. The ratings board should be slapped hard in the face for giving this film that rating; it is quite bad that this quite innocent film has a harsher rating than films like "8MM" and "Hannibal". But, considering that Americans are afraid of sex, it's not surprising. Anyway, if you're looking for a truly unique and original film-going experience, I would highly recommend this film to you. It is a beautiful film that deserves to become a cult favorite.

I got up early on Sunday to catch a matinee of Thomas in Love. I had a horrible headache (from all the drinking I did the night before) and i almost thought twice about going to see this french Sci-Fi story about an agoraphobic. But i got up, put on my clothes and head over to the Nuart, my second favorite place in L.A. The movie was astounding, told completely thought the computer and video/phone system that Thomas uses to keep in touch with the world. The movie has a very hopeful and frightening feeling to it, simultaneously, a walking contradiction, like Thomas himself. The film has a very sterile and detached details to it, which is the reason for my fear. Internet will only separate us more, one does not need to live the house, or socialize. With great special efx (that add to the story, not take over), and a simple, almost under written characters, the director manages to pull two love stories in two hours both of them different and haunting, like love itself. The acting was difficult just because is all talking heads, but still is fascinating.

Movie shot with unusual perspective, where everything is seen through the eyes of the main character constantly staring at a monitor. The digital society depicted is reminescent of Ballard yet less cynical. Way too convincing to be labelled as "sci-fi", excellent work