One of Ripstein’s more transgressive works, this seductive tale of a priest who, out of spite, begins a sexual affair with his maid in his parish, asks us to reconsider the meaning of immorality.
A poor man experiences wealth for the first time as Ripstein’s hard-hitting if straightforward drama depicts the soul-crushing consequences of greed and self-aggrandization.
Tautly-executed, and at times conveying a trepid sense of hopelessness, Ripstein’s work tackles a reformed ex-criminal’s futile attempt in escaping a corrupt system of intimidation and control.
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.
Inarritu’s surrealistic personal work about the crisis of Mexican identity fails to overcome its early sluggishness and narrative inertia despite many moments of visual and technical flourishes, making it his career-worst film.
With typical dark vibes set against the spectre of war and fascism, this stop-motion animated take on ‘Pinocchio’ from Del Toro impresses most with its strong writing and characterisations.
The Venezuelan director’s sophomore fiction feature is so unrushed and assured that one immediately feels at ease immersing in a solid narrative about mistaken identity and the plight—and fate—of migrant workers in Mexico.
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 naïve teenage girl gives birth but her wily mother has other sinister ideas in this well-directed Mexican drama that is not afraid to go down a morally contentious path.
The formal rigour of its aesthetics and its slow cinema approach are at times haunting, capturing the traces of presence, disappearance and trauma in Mexico’s crime-infested rural areas, though it ultimately feels like an elusive experience without any inkling of a plot to hold on to.
Eternality Tan 