Cinematic Point Of View

Michel Franco‘s 2021 film “Sundown” is a bleak and beautiful slow burn. It’s a hard one to recommend as it’s not going to be for everyone but the most adventurous film goers.

The movie follows two siblings, Neil (Tim Roth) and his sister Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), on a family vacation in Mexico. News of a death in the family cuts their vacation short, forcing them all to return home. For no understandable reason, Neil pretends to lose his passport at the airport gate and is unable to join the rest of the group on the flight back. He acts like he will catch the next flight but ends up staying in Mexico. For months. No explanation. He drops off the radar.

Nobody can understand his choice, including you the viewer. This is the underlying mystery of the film. Why would Neil do this? What is wrong with him?

Neil’s sister Alice returns to find out and work out legal issues with the family business now left to them. It’s very frustrating that nobody is getting any straight answers while Tim drinks beers, lounges on the beach, and hooks up with a local.

This is classic Tim Roth. Confident. Unaffected. Honest. Poker faced. It’s also classic Gainsbourg who passionately works to unravel this mystery and move on with her life.

This film is really unlike any I have seen. It’s a mystery. It’s a characters study. Every performance is this film is very natural and unfolds as if you are watching a documentary. There is so little dialogue it’s almost a silent movie. It has a very meditative quality that lets you really observe the characters. You are never quite sure where it’s all going and if you’ll ever understand.

There are also shocking moments of violence. Because the film leaves you in such a quiet and observant state, when those bursts of violence occur it’s quite jarring and effective.

It’s not until almost the film’s final frames that you can really look back on what all just happened and start to understand why Neil was acting the way he was. I imagine everyone will have a different feeling about Neil’s choices. If you have the patience, if you can reserve judgment and put yourself in Neil’s shoes, the ending is quietly powerful.

Until you walk a mile in someone’s shoes you just can’t know.

As as I said at the beginning this film will not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s only for the adventurous. It will likely leave you gutted but you will remember it.

Give “Sundown” a watch if this sounds like your sort of thing.