The film is rough going, mostly due to the study of tragic loss and the ways that people attempt to deal with it. There are certainly some problems - the story goes in and out of being self-consciously earnest and ponderous, and the flashback structure is clunky - but Del Toro's performance is right up there, going beyond the parameters of a character as written and creates a being of his own.

The movie as a whole doesn't match the quality of Del Toro's performance but delivers enough emotional force to be worthwhile.