Film Review - Sundown
Images courtesy of Motto Publicity and Kismet Films.
Sundown is a downer. In South America the skies are blue, the beaches are sandy, and Neil is miserable. We’re not sure why, but you know when a movie focuses its narrative on a recluse whose avoidance of his own family remains his top priority throughout, it’s probably not going to get cheerier in a rush.
And I can confirm that it certainly does not, ever. For a short movie, at roughly 80 minutes, the amount of carnage that is sewn into the lives of those who love Neil is barely a blip on the radar as he freewheels from beach to beach, beer to beer, and nap to nap. Perspective is an excellent element of the storytelling employed by Sundown. We are following the life of a selfish man, caught in the later stages of life with nothing to do and nothing to strive for. When you’re the heir to a multi-billion-pound slaughterhouse company, what is there to want?
Certainly not family, certainly not fortune. Well, I guess there is one thing that no billionaire has: escape. The responsibilities of your empire consume your life and as Neil watches his sister take call after call and email after email, the sound of a phone’s notifications sounding off is as close to torture as you can get.
Motifs play a large role in the narrative of Sundown, many of which I understand by the way… it’s just one or two repetitions that completely eluded me for the entire picture, and I don’t blame it on this being a bad movie, but perhaps one that is too smart for its own good.
There’s something about hipster movies shot in Acapulco, or any other tourist destination with a beach, they’ve all got a healthy scoop of imagery and a hearty dose of symbolism, and you can call me uneducated, but I often miss both even when they’re flaunted in my face. So perhaps the casual audience would not find much to love in Sundown, but for hopeless romantics like me there is a special beauty in seeing Neil and Berenice falling in love, Berenice being an Acapulco local Neil has just met who is not even close to fluent in English. It might not be the most practical of relationships, but as his world burns down around him it’s good to see love bloom with nary a word shared between the pair, as they communicate in two different languages.
Perhaps that’s the gift of Sundown, there’s something different that each person will walk out admiring separately. Because lord knows, for the slowest burning movie of 2022, the dense details in every crevasse merit a re-watch to appreciate them all.
Sundown is screening in cinemas from Thursday July 7th. For tickets and more info, click here.