Overview: Dr Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) is an academic ... a creature of reason. While in Istanbul, she happens to encounter a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

At first, she doubts that he is real and she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong.

But the Djinn pleads his case, and eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both!

Blu-ray Verdict: Three Thousand Years of Longing is a very unique film that celebrates storytelling and it’s deeper meaning whilst also being a thoughtful and satisfyingly slow romantic drama about lonely people connecting that’s only let down by a slightly messy third act.

Idris Elba is absolutely magnetic as the Djinn, bringing all of his charm to enthrall you in the stories he tells but also showing a visible pain and sadness. Tilda Swinton is incredible with a magnificent accent with her own sorrow and sadness that combined with Elba makes for an excellent pairing.

George Miller structures most of this film like the Arabian Nights, with stories nested inside other stories, eventually making every theme of the story overt amidst dazzling images. Or does he? Would repeated viewings offer hints of subtext, or has Miller truly chosen to hide nothing from his audience?

Yes, we may not overtly know what (all) women want, but we do learn what Miss Swinton does, and what she gets, and why all stories about granting wishes are cautionary tales. Yet does the story-within-a-story structure hold an implied story, like that tiny Russian doll you didn’t check to see if there was another within?

Miller’s direction is amazing, the film is heavily stylized and one of the most beautiful and visually saturated films of recent memory. The CG and special effects are really impressive overall with only a few weak spots. Oh, and the music by Tom Holkenborg is really good, really emotional and fantastical stuff.

In closing, and as with most ambitious pieces of cinema, this is far from perfect; but it does contain so much thought-provoking, visually arresting material and it does tie everything together mostly coherently. It’s extremely admirable and it’s most definitely worth seeing.

Academy Award winning director George Miller’s (Happy Feet, the Mad Max franchise, The Witches of Eastwick) fantasy romantic drama Three Thousand Years of Longing, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists Releasing, will be released on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on 11/15, it was announced today by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Directed by Miller from a screenplay by Miller and Augusta Gore, the film is based on the short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye “by A.S. Byatt. The film stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton and is produced by Miller and Doug Mitchell.

Three Thousand Years of Longing will be available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on 11/15. The 4K UHD Blu-ray disc features the film in 4K with HDR. The Blu-ray disc features the film in hi-definition and the DVD features the film in standard definition.

“Three Thousand Years of Longing” | Trailer | Warner Bros. Entertainment

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