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With that title this movie is setting up a certain amount of expectation. I have to tell you though that it’s not big; there is ambition here but the story feels quite small focusing as it does on two people in the same city. It similarly isn’t as bold as it thinks it is. They have tried to do something different but the central idea feels reminiscent of a range of other stories from Doctor Who and Susume to The Adjustment Bureau and Monsters Inc. I’m not sure how beautiful it all is either. It goes for high emotion but somehow it remains quite passionless and isn’t as moving as it could have been. It does involve a journey, that I have no argument with and it does take us the audience on quite a trip as well. 

The other words that could be attached to this are things like weird and quirky but it doesn’t manage that as well as movies such Everything, Everywhere All At Once, Lost Highway, Mother! or Holy Motors. It doesn’t quite have the same imagination or the wit. It is odd though, I’ll grant it that.

So effectively it is a slight romcom (although most of the humour comes from a supporting Phoebe Waller Bridge, rather than the leads) where the two protagonists move from companionship toward love while every so often heading off through magic doors into different worlds where there is no apparent consequence. If you’ll excuse a droll reference that is particularly tailored to fans of both 1970’s British children shows and the filmography of Mila Kunis, it is to my mind like Friends with Mr. Bennefits. 

While I’m making comparisons there is also an extended sequence that is like Big in reverse where a grown man is in the body of a high schooler and the age difference between him and those he is romantically connecting with sits almost as uneasily that way round. I’m sure this is all intentional because the classic Tom Hanks film is strongly (and it has to be said quite sweetly) referenced later.

I do admire this movie for what it is trying to do but sadly it doesn’t quite succeed. There are nice ideas but they are a bit laboured and despite the immense charisma of its stars it is strangely lacking in charm. Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie are great and I love that they are supporting this kind of filmmaking (this is Robbie’s follow up to Barbie so arguably this is an A-lister appearing in a less accessible surreal cinematic parable while at the top of her game, which I respect). In the end though, while it knows where it is going (so will you watching it), it gets a bit lost on the way. It demonstrably wants to be about the titular journey not the destination but disappointingly it didn’t make me care enough about either.