Claire Denis (Director) & Denis Johnson (Novel)

CAST
Margaret Qualley
Joe Alwyn
Benny Safdie
Danny Ramirez
Nick Romano

Premise: A young American journalist stranded in present-day Nicaragua falls for an enigmatic Englishman who seems like her best chance of escape. She soon realizes, however, that he may be in even greater danger than she is.

Review: I went in blind, not knowing much about the movie besides the title and having heard of the book, so I had little to no expectations. The plot is simple enough but there is a geopolitical aspect to this film that, I have to say, completely flew over my head. If I were aware of it, I’d maybe appreciate the context a bit more, yet this movie somehow managed to captivate me enough that I didn’t suffer through it. I could have, because as much as I understood Qualley’s Trish’s situation I didn’t get some of her choices and I’m not talking about her hustle.
Both actors, Alwyn and Qualley, had a good presence and a nice chemistry but I didn’t believe for one second that they fell for each other, I couldn’t even speculate that they were somehow using each other because that made little sense for one of them, and their performance itself didn’t lean that way. So you end up with a pair that is somehow stuck with each other trying to convince you that they’re in love. That coupled with the pacing of the film makes the whole thing just OK.

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