50/10
One night, the arrival of young Heraldo changes the daily life of the place for good
Line of Events
Under a scorching sky, on the side of a road on the coast of Ceará, Motel Destino is a place where dangerous games of desire, power and violence are played. The sixth film directed by Karim Aïnouz to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, after Madame Satã (2002), O Abismo Prateado (2011), Nevidljivi život Eurídice Gusmão (2019), Marinheiro das Montanhas (2021) and Firebrand (2021). ). “Motel Destino” is a quiet but eventful erotic thriller with traces of modern noir, as it tells the story of the need to escape and all the obstacles that come with it. In this desperate desire to escape, you may find yourself trapped in other situations or find a place to stay and a destiny to fulfill.
His original plan was to commit one last crime and move to São Paulo to find honest work
Our hero, the young Heraldo (Iago Xavier), finds both by using a motel in the desert of Ceará as a hideout after fleeing a criminal gang after failing to kill a fellow criminal, which ended badly for his partner. . The motel in the title is run by a middle-aged married couple, Elias (Fábio Assunção) and his wife Dayana (Nataly Rocha), he as the manager and she as the multi-tasking receptionist. In exchange for his help, Heraldo works at the motel, repairing electrical appliances or anything that needs fixing and cleaning. In this lonely combination, Elias finds a hard-working friend in Heraldo, and Dayana gains a new lover in a passionate affair hidden from her husband and from the customers who come to the place (barely seen, mostly heard with strong sexual complaints in the background).
It’s not as spicy as it could be, but it’s somewhat satisfying and very exciting
Love blossoms between the new couple, but Heraldo remains concerned about his partners who flee in search of him. Karim Aïnouz’s latest film is gripping but not completely gripping; sexy and bold but with a bit of suspense and a lot of unexpected humor. It’s almost as if they’ve taken elements of film noir (lonely, troubled and violent characters) but placed them in a motel set around the incredibly beautiful beaches of Ceará – it’s such a beautiful sight that it’s like looking into another world. There’s emotional complexity to the story, which is a good thing, but you might leave feeling empty or like you haven’t gained or experienced much. Deep Down is a film about the human element of hiding and how characters survive when they escape dangerous situations, hiding from themselves and others (like Elias’s small movements in Heraldo) and ultimately each form of escape brings many unexpected results: passion, love.
violence or death
Another strength of Motel Destino is the acting. Iago and Nataly made an interesting and sexually charged couple with good chemistry. While I don’t think his acting is that strong and the way he says some of his lines sounds strange, I think he fits the role well. Heraldo becomes the center of attention for all the right reasons, as he has a special, simple, sexy charm that attracts both women and men (there is a fourth employee at the hotel, played by Yuri Yamamoto, who has the upper hand over Heraldo, but the script brings him back to the background, whispering lines and then in one key moment). For a newcomer, Iago was pretty good in the boldest sex scenes.
What a performance, what a role!
And then there’s Fábio Assunção. There’s a whole generation that remembers him as a soap opera idol from a few decades ago, and others who just watched his downfall a while ago. He doesn’t make many films, but thanks to this, he is also destined to be remembered as a film actor.