Some scientists start working on an experiment to see if they can transfer some, any brain activity from a comatose patient, to a healthy subject. Lukas is the recipient, some scientist who's married. The experiment works. While under, he rescues a girl from the water and saves her life. In additional sessions, they establish a passionate relationship. Lukas looks forward to the sessions. It puts a strain on his relationship. More importantly, he isn't at all forthcoming about what he experiences. He just tells the team that he senses a presence. Things start getting weird and eventually go downhill for the relationship. Another man shows up in in this other-world. He represents a threat to Lukas and the girl. Eventually Lukas confronts him but that will also prove the undoing of his relationship with the girl. At some point he actually visits the comatose girl in real life and learns that she and a man were involved in a car accident but the man didn't make it. When the researchers decide to put an end to the experiment because for a moment, Lukas died during a session and had to revive him, Lukas comes clean about what has happened. And he demands one last session. He thinks he can save/cure the girl.Vanishing Waves is interesting, stylish, and erotic. But it's long, slow, and tedious. It's one of those movies where very little is said, where characters establish romantic relationships without talking to each other. Instead we get lots of annoying high-pitched sounds. The movie is directed with confidence and style but given that most scenes last about 4 times as long as they should, the style ends up getting in the way of the movie. Acting is brutally stiff, I don't know if it has to do with the language--Lithaunian--maybe it's a cold and stiff language and hence the people are too. I started forwarding during a couple of scenes that wouldn't end. There's a ridiculous scene of the guy running naked after the girl but has a hard time catching her. The scene lasts maybe 10 minutes. At some point with the appearance of the other man, I started getting interested in the story and the turns which it might take, but didn't. The concept is good, not original, but surely something more could have been done here. But I enjoyed the ending. I give the movie 4 stars for Jurga Jutaite's stunning body and one more star for the concept and style. This movie could have been much stronger had the director shown a bit more moderation and had they written some more dialogue.

The movie itself is a weird mix of many things and it is not for everybody. It's a head thing (pun intended) and might strike you the wrong way. But if you are into the idea of the fantastic and have no issues with a bit of skin, then you might be positively surprised by this science fiction/fantasy entry.The acting might seem wooden at times and the main character might be sliding into the territory of "don't do that"-yell from the audience, but overall the switch between worlds and the interaction feels real (which is funny if you think about it). The movie itself is not made as a comedy though, it is more structured like a drama/thriller. If you want to see something different, go ahead

I've seen today this VANISHING WAVES from the promising Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte at "Fantasporto" (film festival from Oporto, my hometown) and I was amazed with it! I already knew it had won some important prizes, including one Melies D'Or, as the best European fantastic feature film, but even so I wasn't expecting such remarkable movie.It combines many genres and sub-genres of cinema (from sci-fi to mystery thriller, romance to surrealism, among others) but it ends being a unique experience with an excellent directing work. At parts it made me remind some surrealistic movies of the 70's and their weird and abstract cinematography! I don't know if it was intended or not but I think it resembles to them in so many scenes! The plot is not so ambiguous and twisted like those 70's surreal movies but at parts it's also a bit unclear and puzzling. However, at the end I think the message is quite clear and strong! But in a film like this the plot is what matters the less anyway. The beauty of this movie is in its colors, its intensity, the weird scenarios and the surreal ambiences! The camera work is also excellent showing some twisted angles and some little details that provide an amazing visual effect.I was perfectly astonished with this film and from now on I'm expecting a lot from this director, Kristina Buozyte (which besides a good director seems to be a sympathetic person; she was also there at Fantasporto, presenting the movie!:)

Stanley Kubrick meets Gaspar Noe in Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte's third feature, co-written with Bruno Samper, a visually stunning, sexy sci-fi romantic thriller that's winning awards and taking festivals by storm. Here, at Fantastic Fest, "Vanishing Waves" took four of the five jury trophies in the Fantastic Features category: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Actress (Jurga Jutaite).Don't arrive late because a brief opening narration sets up the story's premise. In a line, scientists discover a way to wire the "inactive" brain of a comatose patient (Aurora, portrayed by Jurga Jutaite) with that of a healthy subject (Marius Jampolskis as Lukas) as a way of peering into the secret workings of the coma victim's mind. Of course, things don't necessarily go as planned. Fans of 9 Songs and Anatomy of Hell will appreciate the continual forays into what some might call a soft porn ballet as the neurological experiments progress.More than anything, the movie is a sci-fi conundrum interspersed with an erotically-charged, luscious program of modern dance. Jutaite and Jampolskis are absolutely wedded to these performances. Emotions are delicately underplayed, with the focus on the on screen pas-de-deux. There's very little dialogue as the script favors feelings and thoughts over actions and reactions.The lush look of the film is its overarching achievement. It opens with a ONEr -- a single long take that immediately establishes this as a cinematographic showcase. Director of Photography Feliksas Abrukauskas helps craft a motion picture that would be gorgeous to watch even without any plot at all. "Vanishing Waves" has, unquestionably, some of the most beautiful cinematography of any film I've seen all year.The regular but judicious use of single takes and long tracking shots enhance the fluidity of the action and keep the characters constantly in motion within the frame. There are no shaky hand-held images here -- this is a study in the effective use of Steadicam in telling a story beyond the limits of the scripted page. Editor Suzanne Fenn trusts the viewer's eye will know when to take a rest from this delicious assault on the senses and keeps cuts to a minimum.Aurora and Lukas are bathed in light, viewed in oversaturated images almost devoid of color. The film is filled with the blacks and grays and whites so ubiquitous in the science fiction genre. The monochromatic clinic set is black and white. Shots in Lukas' house utilize a cold color palette dominated by pastel blues. The only primary colors on display owe their appearance to the occasional food-centric dream sequence.Peter Von Poehl's sweeping original score rests on a continuous humming that echoes the electronic drone of the medical equipment as well as the imagined workings of the human brain. It's magnificently integrated into the narrative."Vanishing Waves" is simply gorgeous to behold. The premise is elegant but the execution of the dream sequences will sweep you off your brain. This is a singular cinematic experience to savor like an all-night gourmet meal or foray into sexual experimentation. Or both at once.