Small in scale but large in heart, writer-director Javier Fuentes-León’s “Undertow” (Contracorriente) is a story of a bisexual triangle in a small Peruvian fishing village. The modest yet affecting twist is that fisherman Miguel, whose wife is expecting, remains attached to Santiago, his dead lover. The sea’s a place for sorrow, and for the comforting presence of ghosts, it turns out. Some of the same emotional tug of “Ghost” shimmers into play. A 2010 Sundance World Cinema Audience Award winner, “Undertow” takes advantage of a luscious, picturesque setting in what seems deeply conservative territory. The result is more wistful than weepy. With Cristian Mercado, Manolo Cardona, Tatiana Astengo. 100m. (Ray Pride)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
Heart of Darkness: A Review of The Batman The three-hour film noir unfolds briskly, an intensive study in the pervasive interplay of power, money and corruption in what seems like perpetual rainy night.
RECOMMENDED
