Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful; from plot to effects to acting. “Cloud Atlas” is fairy tale-like, in a sometimes sci-fi setting, that spans time offering a love story entwined with comedy, action and drama. Seriously, “Cloud Atlas” fires on all cylinders.

The film clocks in at about 2 hours 45 minutes, but you would never know; unless you run out of popcorn and soda. The story moves fairly smoothly to and fro between the various tales in history for each of the characters. The basic notion is that throughout time, particular people are, as the movie quotes more than a few times, linked to each other: “Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”

Apart from a few extras in the background, most actors play more than two and upwards of seven different characters. Each story pushes these people together again and again as the intricacies of their existences play out to demonstrate how each of their iterations in history influence each other person they are bound to, like the strands of silk woven together to form a web.

Beyond boundless love stories and heroic feats to inspire or entertain, there are some other messages of less-than subtle measure. Two of the primary messages are that of too much power of government, and too much power for religion.

Government given to corporate measures of success and desire for greater power leads to what can be understood as the fall of mankind. In the same vein, religion is shown to be as despotic as as those in a corporate boardroom. One religion takes hold in a dystopian future, where that religion has melded with government to form an illusionary order and verging on decrepit existence for humanity. The warning of allowing government to go unchecked and allowing religion to have influence over government might only be a theme for the movie, but given the current state of politics, it is likely a bit of commentary happily brought to light by the Wachowski siblings.

For anyone enjoying the rather frightening prospect of a world where our already accelerated morphing of language into more “efficient” speaking — acronyms and short-hand notes as regular conversational means — along with the techno-based living options masquerading the bleakness of reality, well, you got it. And then for the events of the past, the actors play out the stories with a marvelous interpretation of well-worn character types what combine and set the stage for the characters to come down the line.

I could go on and on with interpretations and then after hours of talk possibly get to some of the movie’s flaws, but I won’t. I will let you and your friends ponder the many messages the movie offers and either complain or applaud the means by which it was presented.

“Cloud Atlas” is the stuff best pictures are made of. I see many award nominations, and likely at least a few wins in the future. It might not appeal to everyone on first viewing, but then the nature of a tale throughout time where every character is bound together but not as the same type of person can be a bit daunting for some movie-goers. Nevertheless, I fully recommend watching “Cloud Atlas” in theaters, and then perhaps more than once. And for home viewing, I certainly say it is a must-see. If for no other reason, than to try and understand the all the intricacies of the web the story and characters weave.