Film Review: "Three Thousand Years of Longing"

Three Thousand Years of Longing” was at the top of many folks' list of most anticipated films for 2022.  Coming off of 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” audiences were excited to see what director George Miller could do next. However, the finished result of “Three Thousand Years” ends up as a mixed bag. Our story follows a lonely scholar (Tilda Swinton) who is on a trip to Istanbul. After purchasing a lamp in a local market, she uncovers a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for her freedom. If you know the work of Miller, that premise has the promise of endless possibilities. 

Films like this one have been coined by many as “passion projects” for filmmakers. “Three Thousand Years of Longing” is Miller’s attempt to celebrate the process of storytelling. A story with this much ambition requires two capable actors. Elba and Swinton very much deliver on the craziness of the world, especially in the film's first half. This is true when Elba tells three viscerally beautifully, and narratively rich stories. Each one is thrilling and conveys what audiences love about Miller as a filmmaker. 

My issues with the story come together in the film's second half, which feels entirely different than what came before.  Initially, the Djinn tells cohesive stories with emotional arcs. Seeing Elba dealing with the repercussions of his “wishes” bestowed on those who found him makes for good drama. It also allows him to give some emotional depth to a character that could have been paper-thin. Elba simply reacting to the world George Miller has created reaches moments of greatness. It is a narrative space that offers genuine emotion and unexpected delights that vanish quickly in the tonally different second half.

Once we leave the hotel room, the story teeters into something that is quite melodramatic. This includes the introduction of a romantic subplot that appears out of nowhere between characters. Both Swinton and Elba have chemistry, but the characters feel underwritten. The lack of characterization makes it quite difficult to connect with the plight they end up going through. It seems as if Miller wanted to bite off more than he could chew by combining genres, and struggles with the genuineness of the romance.

Both Elba and Swinton are capable performers who do what they can with the material. They are consistently interesting to watch, but It was difficult for me to connect emotionally. Based on the short story of the same name one can only wonder what changed along the way. I assume the romantic subplot was a screenwriter's addition to reaching a feature-length running time. The combination of fantasy and romantic storylines ends in a messy finished product.

“Three Thousand Years of Longing” is much more frustrating than engaging. It is quite easy to see the message Miller wants to convey, but it never lands in a satisfying way. The pieces are interesting, but the mix of genres makes the story as a whole feel disjointed and lessens the impact of the performances.  There are a few things to like about  “Three Thousand Years,” especially Elba’s performance, but not enough to recommend seeing it in the theaters.