Sundown

This slow-burn thriller sees a man (Tim Roth) enjoying a vacation in Acapulco, Mexico with his sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her two children until she receives a devastating phone call that sets into motion a plan of his to get even with her and her family business financially. While there's not a whole lot in the way of tension here, this is compensated with very calculated and deliberate performances from both Roth and Gainsbourg, as well as a general lack of knowledge or information on what's going to happen next. Context is minimal and only hinted at throughout, further creating a sense of uncertainty, but this may also prove frustrating for some viewers. And at a brisk and sleek hour and twenty-three minutes, it also felt as though it ended a little soon and abruptly. But overall, a persistent sense of dread, along with fine performances from Roth and Gainsbourg keep this film afloat and intriguing enough while it lasts.

Sundown – A Slow Burn While not a dedicated fan of Tim Roth, he acquits himself rather well in the serious but ambiguous role of a ‘tourist’ in Acapulco, behaving very strangely. But, is it ever really right for a writer/director (Michel Franco) to deliberately keep vital details about their story and its characters from the audience - in order to make the main theme and situations more difficult to fathom? This is one of those cases where we are forced to wonder what’s driving the central characters - while being kept out of the vital loop to understand their motivations and actions. At times this device can add a mysterious element to certain stories but this one is just too meanderingly bland to qualify as a mystery per se. Still, the makers expect us to have the patience to stay with it long enough to fill in the missing pieces. Too many people read about the movies they choose to see before watching, then think they are superior for ‘working it out’, but for others who like to go in cold and let the story unfold in its own time, it’s another matter. Minimalist works such as this require more detail to allow us to connect the more outlandish sections (and there are several here) to where the story is heading. While at times interesting and rather tragic, it’s just as well this has a shortish runtime as any more would have killed it entirely. The ending doesn’t fully deliver a complete understanding of the many peculiar prior actions, and judging from the bulk of reviews, this may not be adequate closure for many to accept, and understandably so.