Terrence Malick has been called reclusive and elusive . He is known, in TMZ parlance, as a Hollywood Bigfoot . His directorial style earns the adjectives disarming , enigmatic , hallucinatory and poetic . When Beyonc dropped the earthy visual feast Lemonade last year, Malick-esque was tossed around as a descriptor . In fact, anything nonlinear that employs wispy voice-overs and/or emphasizes natures grandeur risks drawing Malick comparisons (see: The Revenant , There Will Be Blood , Into the Wild , The Virgin Suicides ). J.J. Abrams even cited the director as an influence on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Having long solidified his place as one of Americas most idiosyncratic filmmakers, Malick returns this weekend with Song to Song , a movie that might only make sense to those familiar with his work. One does not casually dip into Terry Malicks philosophizing. Adjoining the puzzle pieces first joyful, then heartbreaking, ultimately meditative is simpler if you know something about where this director is going and where he has been. That said, Song to Song represents his best and most accessible work since 2011s The Tree of Life, which earned three Oscar nominations.