16/43
Escape creates itself
Plot
Under a burning sky on the roadside of the Ceará coast, Motel Destino is a place of dangerous games of lust, power and violence. One night, the arrival of the new Heraldo finally changes the daily life of this place. Karim Enuza’s sixth film after Madame Satã (2002), O Abismo Prateado (2011), Nevidljivi život Eurídice Gusmão (2019), Marinheiro das Montanhas (. 2021) and Firebrand (2023) will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. «Motelis Destino» is a quiet but eventful erotic thriller with traces of contemporary noir that tells the story of the need to escape and all the obstacles that come with it.
His original plan was to finish his last crime assignment and move to São Paulo to find honest work
In this desperate desire to escape, a person can end up in other situations or find a place to stay and a destiny to fulfill. Our hero, young Heraldo (Iago Xavier), finds both of them using a motel in a deserted area of Ceará as a hideout to escape a gang of criminals after he foiled a murder that left a soldier badly injured. The titular motel is run by a couple, middle-aged Elias (Fábio Assunção) and his wife Dayana (Natalia Rocha), he as the manager and she as the multitasking administrator. In exchange for his help, Heraldo works at the motel, fixing electrical things or anything that needs fixing and cleaning. In this galaxy of loners, Elias finds a hard-working boyfriend on Heraldo, and Dayana acquires a new lover in a passionate affair that takes place in front of her husband and also in front of the customers who frequent the place (hardly seen, mostly heard with loud sexual moans in the background), remaining hidden.
It’s not as exciting as it could be, but it satisfies a little and excites a lot
Love blossoms between the young couple, but Heraldo is still worried about his friends, who are running away to find him. Karim Aïnouz’s latest film is compelling, but not entirely; sexy and bold, but with a little thrill and a lot of unexpected humor. It’s almost as if film noir elements (loners, restless and violent characters) were shot but set in a motel near the incredibly beautiful beaches of Ceará – the view is so beautiful that you can see another world. The story has an emotional complexity, which is good, but you can feel drained or like you’ve gained or experienced little. At its core, it’s a film about the human element of hiding and how these characters deal with escaping dangerous situations by hiding from themselves and others (as Elias’s baby steps in «Heraldo» show), and ultimately about whatever kind of escape brings with it.
many unexpected outcomes: passion, love, violence, or death
Another big draw to Motel Destino is the acting. Iago and Natalia make an interesting and sexually charged pair with great chemistry. While I don’t think his acting is that strong and the way he delivers some lines is strange, I think he’s very suited to the role. Heraldo is the center of attention for a reason, as he has the usual manly, sexy appeal that attracts both women and men (we have a fourth hotel employee, played by Yuri Yamamoto, who is interested in Heraldo, but the script relegates him to the background with whispered lines and a later decisive moment). For starters, Iago was pretty good in the most daring 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 heartthrob a few decades ago, and others who simply witnessed his downfall a while ago. He doesn’t do many movies, but this one will make him memorable as an actor as well.
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