The three best movies I saw at this year’s TIFF were Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Celine Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” and Michel Franco’s “Sundown.” I haven’t written about the latter until now. I’m not sure why, but it’s time.
Franco is quite clearly a nihilist. His films have such a gloomy outlook on humanity, but if it sometimes feels like overkill, he hits just the right spot in “Sundown.” It’s by far the best work of his career.
Some of the greatest filmmakers (Kubrick, Hitchcock, Lynch) have always used antiheroes to lead their stories. If you do it right, then you’ll find some kind of humanity behind these despicable creatures. In “Sundown,” Franco presents us Neil Bennett (a never-better Tim Roth) who seems to be enjoying a holiday at a Mexican resort with his sister, Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and her two teenage kids. It’s a picturesque vacation with a deep blue sea view, hotel entertainment, and world-class dining.
Then tragedy strikes. Alice gets a phone call telling her that their mother’s dead. And so, what does Neil do exactly? As they are about to board their flight back home, he pretends he’s lost his passport and therefore can’t fly home for the funeral. He hops a cab back to a dingy hotel, stops taking calls, and really tries to live it up by drinking cans of beer by the beach.
Much like the great directors I mentioned, Franco’s nihilism is so pitch black here that you can’t help but laugh at the absurdism. It’s a nasty bit of business from the Mexican director, and he only defies our expectations further by having Neil get himself involved in romance, and violence in Acapulco. All this time, Franco’s camera never judges Neil, the film’s pitch and tone veering into total black comedy.
The mysteries that lie underneath “Sundown” are even more fascinating. What is the film trying to tell us? Neil is a man who has all, but given up on living life “normally.” He’s snapped and realized that we are nothing more than stardust, atoms and cells, our time on this planet ticking away every second, and that’s what makes Neil’s journey so relatable. For all his selfish and morally dubious behaviour, you also understand his actions. [A-]
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.