Escalante’s sophomore feature is slow and deliberate, yet extremely exacting in what it wants to do, which is to portray with docu-style authenticity one day in the life of two illegal Mexican labourers, with shocking results.
Some may find it tedious, but Escalante’s modest feature debut showcases the cinema of the mundane—it portrays the quiet, unexciting daily life of a couple, and through it, reveals what is psychologically tormenting and unsaid.
A Mexican family is irreversibly changed when drugs unwittingly enter their lives in this stunningly assured piece of cinema (winner of Best Director at Cannes) that may shock even the most seasoned of viewers.
Eternality Tan 