X
- 2025
- Strand Releasing
- 1 h 52 m
- 2025
- Strand Releasing
- 1 h 52 m
Summary Under the burning sky on a roadside on the coast of Ceará, Motel Destino is the scene of dangerous games of desire, power and violence. One night, the arrival of young Heraldo definitively transforms the daily life of the place. [Strand Releasing]
Directed By: Karim Aïnouz
Written By: Wislan Esmeraldo, Karim Aïnouz, Mauricio Zacharias
- 2025
- Strand Releasing
- 1 h 52 m
- 2025
- Strand Releasing
- 1 h 52 m
Motel Destino
74
6.8
Where to Watch
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Summary Under the burning sky on a roadside on the coast of Ceará, Motel Destino is the scene of dangerous games of desire, power and violence. One night, the arrival of young Heraldo definitively transforms the daily life of the place. [Strand Releasing]
Directed By: Karim Aïnouz
Written By: Wislan Esmeraldo, Karim Aïnouz, Mauricio Zacharias
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
74
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
74
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
May 23, 2024
As an erotic thriller, it’s more preoccupied with the first half of that term than the second, and that’s just fine.
Aug 29, 2025
The payoff feels somewhat slight, but the foreplay — the will-they-or-won’t-they and the will-he-find-out — builds up with energy and flare. Maybe climaxes are overrated, anyway.
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 5 User Ratings
6.8
80% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 5 User Ratings
6.8
80% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Oct 2, 2025
O que faltou pro Iago Xavier se pegar com o Fábio Assunção? Pô, o filme é lindão, as cores usadas no motel, o suor, a iluminação dos quartos, as tomadas onde é possível ver o céu, a praia lá fora, a cena da cova, mesmo a noite... tudo tão lindo... E o Iago sempre arrancando suspiros, mas pelo amor de Deus, o moço exala bissexualidade né? Deixá-lo como um macho "falocentrado" pesou um pouco, ainda mais que ele tinha dificuldade em mostrar imposição, mas no pole dance e nas dancinhas... "Pega o guanabara e vem"... Arte e cultura nordestina nas veias! Faltou mais ousadia, mas ainda assim acima da média.
Report
Aug 31, 2025
'Motel Destino' is a noir erotic thriller that overflows with sexuality through the complicated relationship between its three protagonists. Karim Aïnouz bets everything on the atmosphere; the neon colors, the constant moans in the background, and the image's grain contribute to a permanent state of horniness. Although the crime thriller part is much less interesting than the romantic/erotic one, eventually, the film traps you in its web of lust, desire, and liberation.
Report
May 23, 2024
This film is terrifically acted by its central trio: three intensely and unselfconsciously physical performances in which their bodies are frequently on show, sensual but fragile.
Aug 29, 2025
The film certainly registers the dynamics between old and young, haves and have-nots—struggles that characterize societies far beyond Brazil.
May 23, 2024
It’s sexy, disturbing, yet cold despite the simmering equatorial heat and hot lava of freely flowing attractions.
May 23, 2024
Despite its flaws, Motel Destino has mood, rawness and atmosphere to burn, fueled by Amine Bouhafa’s score, which becomes steadily more disquieting as it ratchets up the urgency.
May 23, 2024
Motel Destino never deviates radically enough from that tried-and-tested Postman template to throw up too many surprises. The result is frisky but fleeting.
Production Company
- Cinema Inflamável
- Gullane
- Maneki Films
- The Match Factory
- Globo Filmes
- Telecine
- Canal Brasil
- Brouhaha Entertainment
- Written Rock Films
- Tandem
- Matizar Filmes
- Filmes del Fuego
Release Date Aug 29, 2025
Duration 1 h 52 m
Awards
Cinema Brazil Grand Prize
• 8 Nominations
Brazil Online Film Award
• 2 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
