Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
When architect-turned-recluse Bernadette Fox goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica, her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, goes on a quest with Bernadette's husband to find her.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a moderately engaging adaptation of Maria Semple's novel, buoyed by Cate Blanchett's committed and energetic central performance that elevates the material considerably. The film captures the darkly comic tone of the book unevenly, with the first half feeling livelier and more inventive than the second. The cinematography is competent but unremarkable, shifting from Seattle's grey architecture to Antarctica's stark beauty without fully exploiting either setting visually. The premise—agoraphobic genius architect rediscovering herself—has a distinctive flavor drawn from the source material, but Linklater's adaptation smooths out much of the novel's structural novelty. The ending resolves too neatly and feels rushed, undermining the more complex emotional journey that preceded it, landing as the weakest element of the film.