Ramsay's filmmaking skills are astonishing, bringing to mind Jane Campion's ability to get under the skin of a difficult character while creating a work of art that is provocative and often shockingly heartless. The gentle flow of the narrative, the carefully saturated colours, the poetic beauty of the images, the intricate use of music--this is expert moviemaking, sometimes so stylish that it starts to lose coherence. But the drive of the piece is in the themes, not the plot, which shifts gears from a dark and creepy thriller to a sexy sun-drenched holiday comedy to a grainy 1970s style road movie. The cast is excellent, in an off-handed and very natural way. Morton makes Morvern an intriguing yet frightening young woman who we never remotely engage with (this is the point!). We just can't get to the bottom of her motives, yet we clearly understand the deep drive to try to improve life in any way possible, especially when the restraints are removed. And as a result, the film does ultimately jar our emotions in a powerful way.