Popular reviews

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  Review by Scott Barley 11

  A LADDER (2025)
  A film by Scott Barley / Music by Hara Alonso
  Now freely available to download in 4K. 
  Watch/download here: https://vimeo.com/1069563912

  Exquisite corpse, commissioned by Canal180, Culturgest, and gnration, in Portugal. 
  More info: https://scottbarley.com/A-Ladder

  "Secret ladder.
  Borne from firmament.
  Stone, atonal waters.
  Chorus of silent hands.
  A vanishing act.
  Night is burning.
  Night is burning white.
  Flesh, a white fire.
  Avian. Given.
  Secret ladder.
  Mirror, become mirror."

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  Review by Jerry ★★★★ 8

  when the moon hits

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  Review by Sam B.

  feels like there are about tenfold the usual number of poems in the Letterboxd review tab for this one

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  Review by seth 10

  scott barley abruptly released this today eight years after his previous magnum opus sleep has her house, and so i was very excited for this to be a return to form for his style of films, as the interpretation and romanticism present in barley’s work is unlike anything i’ve seen before. i read this to be about destruction and ambition / human nature, reflected through the recurring imagery of fire + smoke, the lingering static shots looking up at the night sky and the title itself. really hope this is the start of many new projects to come from barley.

  | SCOTT BARLEY ranked |

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  Review by DungeonSkramz ★★★★

  flesh joins fire to make a ladder into heaven
  a beacon of light guiding my way
  to become one with the elements
  let my ashes spread like stardust in the night

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  Review by lee ⚢

  like a ghost withering; here or there; beyond and above, clarity has been revealed. we shall never forget what had been, what once was—what is Now.

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  Review by Toby ★★★★

  coincidentally, the week i start getting into Scott Barleys filmography, he drops a film after 8 years, i’m just a good omen. I adore A ladder and think it’s one of his best works. the cinematography and colour design are obviously on point, and the score is beautiful; it all works so well together to tell such a harrowing and dejected story about artistry. the ambition, patience and difficulty thay comes with artistry. to me that’s what i think the film is talking about. the top of the horizon is unclear but it’s there, what’s clear is the bottom where we start. there is this emphasis of the sky superimposed onto the bottom, this is our goal and how are…

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  Review by Daisy

  Gorgeous. An eerie and beautiful return from one of my absolute favorite modern filmmakers. Feels like a tribute to the master David Lynch.

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  Review by kyanonus ★★★★

  || firecords threading to the sootsky ||
  || pinhole stars making up wound-galaxies ||
  || lisping waters dissonance ||
  || stepladder of an undoing ||
  || our moon-tendered flesh ||
  || arching for the waning heavens ||

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  Review by AshCrow

  Night is burning

  Geheime Leiter.
  Wohin führt sie?
  In den Himmel?
  In die Hölle?

  Schwarzes Wasser.
  Fegefeuer.
  Unterhalb des Sternenzelt.

  Geräusche kommen aus der Tiefe.
  Klingen nicht von dieser Welt.

  Ein Traum so Finster.
  Die Nacht in Flammen.
  Geheime Leiter, seht wie sie brennt.

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  Review by Steven Adam Renkovish ★★★★★

  Eight years after the mammoth, life-altering beast that was SLEEP HAS HER HOUSE, my friend and brother, Scott Barley, returns with another meticulously layered piece of empyrean micro-cinema.

  This "exquisite corpse" seems both familiar and alien, the thick layers of grain dancing around and then revealing Scott's unique filmic reckoning of the earth and, finally, the heavens.

  The score by Hara Alonso compliments the visuals to perfection, a marriage that ensures that you will not be left unmoved.

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  Review by Simon Ramshaw ★★★★½

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