Sundown Review: Tim Roth Shines In Beautifully Shot, But Meandering Drama
Writer-director Michel Franco’s Sundownfollows a similar trajectory to his previous films, observing dysfunctional families and integrating Mexico’s socio-economic politics into the narrative. Sundown seems to indicate that the audience should simply observe over judging, but as one simply observes Tim Roth's Neil, the film's main character, viewers are most certainly called to judge Acapulco, Mexico. In the end, what could have ultimately been an interesting character study surrounding Neil's behavior lands with a thud in Franco's latest.
Sundownfollows Neil Bennett (Roth), a wealthy man on vacation with his sister, Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and her kids (Albertine Kotting McMillan and Samuel Bottomley) in Mexico. The trip is pleasant enough until a distant emergency cuts the trip short. Tensions rise when a family member disrupts the tight-knit order, exposing the instabilities within this wealthy British family.
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Franco’s film does little to spell out the narrative with words and dialogue at the beginning. Instead, the filmmaker opts for a visual language that paints the Bennetts as a loving, tight-knit family, but with one very obvious crack in the façade. Without getting too much into it, as the experience of the film hinges upon not knowing anything, the disconnect lies with Neil. A random scene indicates what may be wrong, but the payoff for that comes far too late. Neil is always framed as being shockingly out of place. If it isn’t his extremely pale skin or his bright white shirts, it's the intense apathy Tim Roth projects in almost every scene.
Sundown is an actor’s showcase type of movie. Neil, on paper, is awful. He
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