Two Years at SeaStately, fitfully mesmerizing but definitely not for lowbrows, experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers' "Two Years at Sea" observes contempo hermit Jake Williams as he ekes out a living in the wilds of Scotland.

Monkey Sandwich"I was born and I will die, and that is all the meaning that I have," says an actor in "Monkey Sandwich," and Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus' directorial debut similarly seems to exist strictly between its opening and closing shots.

SwanAn insomniac Portuguese chantoosie who auditions random strangers to be her assistant leaves the object of her affection alone at her countryside home in "Swan," another existential puzzle pic from Lusitanian scribe-helmer Teresa Villaverde ("Trance").

Missione di paceDiverting black comedy is marbled with moments of high drama and surreal wit and is competently assembled, though its mixed bag of influences keeps the pic, written by five screenwriters, from finding its own groove.

I'm Carolyn ParkerJonathan Demme's "I'm Carolyn Parker" offers a slender but engaging human-interest angle on the slow-moving recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina.

The BirdA grieving Bordeaux kitchen worker prefers solitude over compassion in French drama "The Bird," though an unannounced avian caller seems to have missed the memo.