Movie Reviews
‘Motel Destino’ Review: Karim Aïnouz’s Tropical Noir Conjures a Potent Atmosphere of Heat, Desire and Danger Even if the Payoff Loses Steam
Two young men fight playfully on a beach surrounded by rocky hills in the opening moments of Karim Aïnouz’s Motel Destino, their tanned bodies glistening under the scorching sun of Brazil’s northeastern coast. Before it’s revealed that the pair are brothers close in age, the scene sets up a torrid queer undercurrent that ripples throughout this erotic thriller even though the three principal characters enmeshed in a dark romantic triangle are all ostensibly straight.
Returning to his home country after last year’s English historical drama Firebrand, Aïnouz takes inspiration from classic noir, notably The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. That sets up expectations for a denouement involving some kind of twist or retribution, which the movie only sort of provides, segueing from violence to a kind of dreamy deliverance. If that ending makes it less satisfying than the sustained tension and intrigue that precede it, there’s still plenty to keep you glued.
Motel Destino
The Bottom Line
A visual knockout that doesn’t quite stick the landing.
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Competition)
Cast: Iago Xavier, Nataly Rocha, Fabio Assunção, Fabíola Líper, Renan Capivara, Yuri Yamamoto, David Santos, Isabela Catão, Jupyra Carvalho, Bertrand de Courville
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Screenwriter: Wislan Esmeraldo, in collaboration with Karim Aïnouz, Mauricio Zacharias
1 hour 55 minutes
At the top of that list are the intoxicating visuals of Hélène Louvart, giving the film palpable heat, physicality and danger that recall the rising-star French cinematographer’s work on Eliza Hittman’s Beach Rats. The striking compositions shot on 16mm have grainy textures pulsing with vitality and electrified by bold splashes of saturated color. The look is like neon even in daylight, adding considerably to the movie’s erotic charge.
The aforementioned beach boys are 21-year-old Heraldo (Iago Xavier) and his slightly older brother Jorge (Renan Capivara), who’s about to have his first child. Heraldo is eager to leave their small beach town in Ceará, move to the city and find work as a mechanic, eventually aiming to run his own garage. But the brothers are on the payroll of local loan shark and drug dealer Bambina (Fabíola Líper), who refuses to let Heraldo go before they do an important two-man job.
That evening at a beach bar, Heraldo hooks up with a stranger (Isabela Catão) and takes her to Motel Destino for a wild night. But once he passes out, she makes off with his money, leaving him locked in the room with no way to pay. Dayana (Nataly Rocha), who runs the seedy roadside joint with her older husband Elias (Fabio Assunção), eventually releases him. But Heraldo makes it to town just in time to see Jorge’s dead body being carted off after his botched attempt to carry out the Bambina job solo.
Aïnouz and screenwriter Wislan Esmeraldo keep the set-up tight, dispensing with unnecessary exposition. The tragedy also serves to fuel Heraldo’s dreams of Jorge, adding the weight of guilt, while fear factors in via his terror of Bambina’s semiautomatic-toting goon Rafael (David Santos) coming after him. Heraldo gets lucky with a hideout when he returns to Motel Destino and Dayana takes him on as a handyman, putting his electrician skills to work.
Production designer Marcos Pedroso renders the sex hotel as a place so sordid you can practically smell it — and that’s even before you see the donkeys humping in the yard. (Nothing like the sight of a whopping mule penis to hammer home a movie’s fascination with lust.) The rooms are bathed in a lurid red glow, as is the central corridor from which staff secure payment through window hatches that allow for the occasional bit of voyeurism. Security cameras also play into that element, uncovering secrets later on.
Perhaps even more pungently descriptive than the look of the place is sound designer Waldir Xavier’s aural racket of moaning and grunting coming from the rooms, sometimes with the added accompaniment of porn channels. Aïnouz doesn’t hold back in his depiction of an environment in which sex and desire are as dirty, sweaty, whiffy and animalistic as it gets. Heraldo even has to remove a large snake that gets into a room, and it’s not one of the sex toys provided by management.
Naturally, Heraldo and Dayana soon start having clandestine trysts while boorish hothead Elias is elsewhere. He’s busy with plans to build an extension and add more rooms, but it doesn’t take him much time to figure out what’s going on. Elias has already threatened to kill Dayana when she tried to run off in the past, so there’s no telling what he’ll do once he discovers he’s being cheated on.
Aïnouz teases out the possible scenarios, stirring in homoerotic tension when Elias starts getting drunk and handsy around Heraldo. It’s clear the older man is no stranger to crime, even before we witness his method of dealing with a motel guest’s inconvenient heart attack. The identity of that guest and his link back to an earlier event is one of the screenplay’s more schematic touches.
Even so, the movie’s overripe sensuality pairs well with the menace of isolated settings like a wind farm on a lonely stretch of beach at night. Likewise the simmering threat of violence or sexual abuse.
But the climactic action is somewhat wayward, with a too easy solution supplied by an unfortunate animal in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dayana talks about being treated like an animal by Elias, and with the donkeys and goat and chickens always around in the motel yard, that metaphor feels heavy-handed. The script’s other failing is its wishy-washy wrap-up of the Bambina business.
Despite its flaws, Motel Destino has mood, rawness and atmosphere to burn, fueled by Amine Bouhafa’s score, which becomes steadily more disquieting as it ratchets up the urgency.
Strong performances by the three leads motor along on the characters’ nervous energy, apprehension or anger, and screen newcomer Xavier keeps you invested in Heraldo’s ordeal. Aïnouz employs the central character as a stand-in for Brazilian youth, whose drive and desire are held back by a corrupt older generation intent on maintaining its power. It’s that kind of oppression that forces young men like Heraldo to bend their fates.
Movie Reviews
Deva Movie Review: Shahid Kapoor Exudes High Octane Fire & Rage As A Flawed & Roguish Cop In This Engaging Thriller Flick!
Star Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Pooja Hegde, Pravesh Rana, Pavail Gulati, Kubbra Sait, Girish Kulkarni
Director: Rosshan Andrrews
What’s Good: Shahid Kapoor’s performance, background score, action sequences, an engaging first half.
What’s Bad: An underwhelming climax, the twist introduced in the end does not strike a chord, loopholes in the plot in the second half, and few supporting characters go underutilized.
Loo Break: Even though the second half loses the momentum, we recommend the interval because of this one being an overall riveting thriller.
Watch or Not?: All the fans of Shahid Kapoor can certainly give this one a watch.
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 156 minutes
User Rating:
Rosshan Andrrews has probably managed to showcase Shahid Kapoor in his massiest avatar with Deva. The actor exudes swag and oodles of roguish charm, which also surpasses the machismo that he possessed in Kabir Singh. It is also a subtle ode to Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Angry Young Man’ era, wherein he witnessed the flawed but fiery hero putting things into momentum in his own way.
The plot revolves around Deva Ambre (Shahid Kapoor), a far-from-perfect police officer who prefers to stick to his roguish and aggressive ways of handling a crime case. Having put his own father in jail, he battles his own inner demons, which makes it difficult for him to abide by the judicial rules and protocols. His only weakness is his friendships with his colleagues and childhood friends, Rohan D’silva (Pavail Gulati) and Farhan Khan (Pravesh Rana). He also falls in love with a crime journalist, Diya Sathaye (Pooja Hegde).
However, when a personal tragedy turns his life upside down, he realizes that there is a mole within the system. Just when he has uncovered the truth, Deva suffers a life-threatening accident that wipes out his memory. He must go to any lengths to unravel the truth again from the remnants of his past memory.
Deva Movie Review: Script Analysis
Deva has an engaging pace in the first half. Along with the protagonist’s character buildup, we are introduced to the police authorities trying to nab a dreaded gangster (Manish Wadhwa) and his entire nexus. However, it is soon hinted that there is a mole within the police system, which helps him stay one step ahead of the police.
Deva’s aggression and rage toward solving the case are showcased as a sharp contrast to the discipline and principles that his colleagues adhere to. The writing does not waste any time to accelerate the storyline of a police investigation after a tragedy occurs. The suspects, underlying secrets, and ulterior motives of the characters make the first half extremely interesting, keeping you hooked to the screens.
However, it is the second half which falters. The plot twist leading to the climax appears to be very disoriented and does not strike the chord that you expect. It appears to be rather underwhelming after such a strong buildup in the second half. There is also a disconnect with Shahid’s performance, even though he manages to keep the energy high. There are also some loopholes which do not let you abide by the climax.
Deva Movie Review: Star Performance
Talking about the performances, Shahid Kapoor is an absolute treat to behold. He does immense justice to all the shades of his character, from the rowdy and flawed cop to a colleague sensitive about his friends, he delivers the varied aspects of this complex role flawlessly. There is a reason why this role takes the bar higher than Kabir Singh. The actor unleashes the required angst, fire, and ferocity in his performance and keeps the energy levels consistent.
Pravesh Rana and Pavail Gulati impress amongst the supporting star cast. However, Pooja Hegde, along with Girish Kulkarni and Kubbra Sait are heavily underutilized. A cameo appearance by veteran Marathi actor Upendra Limaye makes way for an entertaining watch.
Deva Movie Review: Direction, Music
The technical aspects of the Rosshan Andrrews directorial are top-notch. The cinematography and the production design add a fine catalyst to the plot. The background score by Jakes Bejoy, which plays the rap song ‘Marji Chaa Maalik’ keeps the adrenaline levels high, especially during the action sequences.
Deva Movie Review: The Last Word
Irrespective of the flawed second half, especially the climax, Deva is definitely one of Shahid Kapoor’s strongest works. The actor puts his heart and soul into this one, which is reflected in every frame. This promises to be a treat for all the die-hard fans of the actor.
3 star
Deva Trailer
Deva released today on 31 January, 2025.
Share with us your experience of watching Deva.
Must Read: Azaad Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Aaman Devgan & Rasha Thadani Starrer Is A Compelling Tale Of Loyalty, Rebellion & Courage; The Black Beauty Is The Cherry On Top!
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Movie Reviews
Sundance 2025: all the latest movie reviews and updates from the festival
A new year means a new Sundance Film Festival, and a fresh crop of promising original features that could go on to become awards season darlings in a few months. It might be hard to top last year’s festival where Dìdi, A Different Man, and I Saw the TV Glow all made strong showings. But with films like Atropia, Bubble & Squeak, and Didn’t Die on the roster, this year’s Sundance might just do the trick.
Naturally, The Verge is going to be taking in as much of Sundance as we can and posting bite-sized reviews of everything we see. We’ll also be posting longer reviews and sharing trailers, and you can follow along here to keep up with all of the news out of the festival.
Movie Reviews
Bobby Canipe Jr’s ‘GRANDMA’ (2024) – Movie Review – PopHorror
I not very familiar with Shot On Video Horror, only recently being introduced to it through the films of Brewce Longo. My latest foray into SOV horror is Bobby Canipe Jr’s Grandma.
Synopsis
Dive into the blood-soaked nostalgia of ’90s shot-on-video horror with Grandma, Directed by Bobby Canipe Jr. This terrifying retro tale follows a young woman who inherits a countryside bed-and-breakfast with a chilling secret. The original owner, known only as “Grandma,” was a deranged serial killer (Josh Allman) who transformed her unfortunate guests into gruesome meals. As renovations unfold, the house’s horrific past reawakens, and the new owner (Anna Clary) and her friends (Angel Bradford, Kelsey Baker) must face the grisly return of Grandma’s deadly legacy.
Grandma was written and directed by Bobby Canipe Jr (Amityville Ripper). The film stars Anna Clary (Coffintooth), Angel Bradford (Crackcoon), Kelsey Baker (Red Light District Shark Attack), Ryan Carpenter, Hunter Redfern (Jeffrey’s Hell), Ryan Martel (Bad Girls), Cagney Larkin (Karate Ghost), Bartley Bess, and Josh Allman (Amityville Ripper).
What Worked For Me
I really enjoyed the cast here. Anna Clary, Angel Bradford and Kelsey Baker made the core trio of characters likable and it made me want to root for them. In addition to the core trio, I really enjoyed Ryan Martel and Cagney Larkin as the redneck fruit sellers. Their characters added a lot of humor to their scenes. I also enjoyed Hunter Redfern, who plays a redneck who has a habit of showing up at the B&B the girls are fixing up.
The film kind of feels like a modern gore centered take on Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There was one kill scene in particular that felt like it was directly influenced by a kill from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The killer, Grandma, was a really unsettling character. Her mannerisms and vocalizations were pretty creepy. The kills are pretty sadistic in nature, with one in particular being incredibly gruesome with a twisted sense of humor.
What Didn’t Work For Me
I would have liked to have a little more backstory on Grandma and her family. It felt like we were given just enough to move the story along and I personally would have liked a little more development. I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending, though that has more to do with my personal preferences.
Final Thoughts
Grandma is a solid shot on video indie slasher film with a great cast and some gruesome kills. Recommended.
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