Sundown

8,5 / 10

As the sun shines down on Neil Bennett, who sits in a chair at the beach of the fragile vacation spot of Acapulco, he presumably says to himself: "I'm thinking of ending things."

His mysterious taciturnity and apathy during the just 83 minute-long Sundown are weirdly gripping thanks to a fantastic Tim Roth and lets the viewer unravel Michel Franco's atmospheric approach to existentialism as soon as the end credits roll. We get to see an upper-class family, which runs a British multi-billion company rooted in the manufacturing of meat products, consisting of Neil and his sister Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) as well as her two children Alexa and Colin, all enjoying their vacation in a hotel resort isolated from the lower class of Acapulco. Early on, Neil's tranquility feels out of place as he is barely reacting to a mixed morning cocktail, but looks suspiciously at a plate full of steaks during a dinner. The first arc caps off with devastating news for the Bennett family who immediately heads to the nearby airport, but Neil is forced to stay in Acapulco because he forgot his passport at the resort – on purpose.

In the second act, he starts to transform into a Leda Caruso-esque figure who relaxes in a chair, stares at the ocean and drinks one bottle of beer after another while his feet touch the harmless waves. But deep inside, he feels guilt and is very aware of his badly needed support for his family. While these emotions slip out from time to time in Leda Caruso’s flashbacks, they are kept intact in Neil’s day-to-day life because his secret seals them away effectively until the final act. Despite the huge language barriers, he meets a girl named Berenice (Iazua Larios) who works at a kiosk near the beach. They form a basic relationship which is upheld by the smallest, action-driven effort from Neil, but their interactions are a welcomed distraction for him. As they hang out at the beach together, the dark reality of the vacation spot confronts the visitors, but Neil looks almost unfazed by the criminal event and quickly leaves the scene with his girlfriend. With every frame capturing his apathetic body language, Michel Franco illustrates a man who postpones his problems, has no fear and no drive, but finds quiet contentment in his unofficial retirement routine. But his locked-up inner thoughts about the family come back to bite him for the dramatic third act which feels a bit too construed at first glance.

Throughout the story, Franco repeatedly uses a clear shot of the sunlight accompanied by a haunting bassline which describes Acapulco’s impermanent peace and poverty-driven gang violence in the midst of a wealthy man’s existential crisis. Neil finds comfort in the endless, bright waves of heat, but they also shine a light on his fate which he seems to be aware of since the beginning of the vacation. As the motive gets used more often, he starts to hallucinate pigs at various locations of the city. Their appearance might be related to a traumatic event from Neil’s past within the meat production company which explains his stare at the steak plate, but further hints are not given. The revelation of his secret is connected to the hallucinations which marks an end similar to Charlie Kaufman’s I’m thinking of ending things and its quote about the infested pig:

"It's not bad, once you stop feeling sorry for yourself because you're just a pig, or, even worse, a pig infested with [Neil's secret]. It's the luck of the draw. You play the hand you're dealt. You... you move on. You don't worry about a thing."

Whereas Kaufman’s depressing masterpiece from 2020 takes place in the countryside of Oklahoma during a never-ending snowstorm, Michel Franco’s calming contribution feels like the warm, sunbathing equivalent to it. Tim Roth’s stoic way of conveying Neil’s state of mind to the viewer probably hits harder when rewatching the film, especially one moment in which he holds the hands of his niece, knowing that she and her brother will get to know the reason for his actions when the sun has set.