Night Moves, intended or not, also betrays how difficult it is to comprehend acts of terrorism. And in this particular case of environmental activism/terrorism, even more so since its basic premise is a value for life itself, not a politicized religious doctrine or ideal beyond present time and this reality. Most terrorist activity clothes itself as a catalyst for a preordained apocalyptic consequence; yet the mantra for environmental activism, such as that taken on by rogue factions of Greenpeace, by Josh’s trio if you will, is an attempt to avoid an apocalypse here and now resulting from our ignorance of the earth’s fragility.

But as Reichardt shows, there is for each and every one of us an unavoidable and individual moral apocalypse. We have to live with ourselves ultimately and this film is a modern Dostoyevskian probe into our moral fibre and complexity. Some of us are Dena, others Josh or Harlan. This is an important, sensitive and timely film in a world where everything is quickly becoming connected to everything else.

Alfredo Romano

Shown at this year’s TIFF13 : Toronto International Film Festival and the 70th Venice Film Festival (La Biennale di Venezia)