This is easily among the worst films I’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing, and it’s baffling that so many others consider it a significant artistic achievement. Please don’t tell me I’m missing something here. What's the point? Just because it portrays a love story outside conventional boundaries? Because some might interpret it as an unconventional version of Adam and Eve, even including forbidden fruit and only entering reality after consuming it? It’s ridiculous; watching this made me feel ill. It seemed more like the writer was simply indulging in his own personal obsessions. This is the 1980s equivalent of those films where "Oh, two cousins stranded on an island, slowly escalating their intimacy until they have sex, and then she becomes pregnant, oooh yeahh that's good." I don’t care if they make them related with “Oh, Eve was created from Adam, so they’re sort of related,” no, they didn’t need to be. They could have been friends; they could have understood that sex leads to children and still made the choice, regardless of love or some other flimsy excuse. I don't know, maybe it's required for them to be related and lack understanding about sex and its consequences. Perhaps it’s also a requirement that he attempts to rape her on several occasions, but the film seems to present this as acceptable because she might be attracted to him anyway?? Maybe all of these elements are mandatory. But the racism was completely unnecessary. "Oh yes, the native people dress like orcs and kill people at altars"—what purpose did that serve? They don’t even interact with the cousins. They could have been omitted entirely, and the story would remain essentially unchanged. "Oh, art is meant to shock and question your understanding"—shut up; this movie isn't a complex masterpiece simply because it challenges societal norms in unrealistic situations. If that’s all you require for artistic merit, Pornhub would have won more Oscars. The imagery and metaphors are superficial and lack any real substance. I suspect the only reason this did well in theaters is because people back then didn't have the internet to satisfy their strange desires.

Source on TMDB