Woman in the Dunes is filled with allegories. They are layered over each other. Some are obvious and others construct the full meaning of the film. There are so many interesting possibilities that cinemaphiles spend hours discussing them. Woman in the Dunes has always been an art house film. For its very skillful use of sound, cinematography, and story, it received a nomination for Best Foreign Film from the Motion Picture Academy. However, an average viewer might find the film dull in places. Dry sand flowing like water might have deep meaning to the narration, but its constant appearance might be boring to an audience more accustomed to explosions and jump scares. There are moments of high tension to be had. But they cycle back into an ever-growing feeling of frustration and exhaustion that is a good portion of the story. While you watch Woman in the Dunes, you should prepare yourself for a full meal of hidden and obvious meanings behind situations, objects, how the objects are shown, and the sound. The sound is one of the best things about Woman in the Dunes: it creates a narrative onto itself. Viewers might be tempted to re-watch it just to capture the narrative of the sound and how it changes, just like our hero does throughout the movie.
