Sundown – Short Yet Solid Family Drama

Not every film has to be overly long to be effective. It’s not about time, it’s what’s done with that time that matters at the end of the day. Some may be unwilling to commit to films of certain lengths at times while it’s also good to change things up on occasion. When it comes to Sundown, it certainly makes the most out of that running time, clocking in at just over 80 minutes. That being said, for some audiences, it won’t be a journey worth taking. A simple film on the surface, there’s so much more to be unpacked here but it won’t be for everyone as some will be left wanting more. Mostly focusing on a single character, the film’s ultimate success lives or dies on that character. Along those lines, fans of Tim Roth will certainly be at home with this one with this latest turn joining the pantheon of past despicable characters. Either way, a beautiful Mexican backdrop in the midst of this character study at least makes it nice to look at.

Sundown follows the Bennetts, a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico whose trip was cut short by a family emergency. However, the same was not the case for brother and sister Neil (Roth) and Alice (Gainsbourg) as the former had different plans and stayed behind in Mexico. Suffice it to say that things were not quite what they seemed for the Bennett family as there were clearly issues brewing below the surface. Unfortunately, a lot of that occurred off screen which essentially amounted to a ticking time bomb as Neil went about on a solo vacation of sorts though it could easily be argued that he was simply avoiding responsibility by staying behind. In the meantime, he had made quite the life for himself but sooner or later, Neil would have to face reality. The subsequent middle stage of the film does somewhat get dull and drags until that inevitable moment when the film gets interesting. 

Once that simmering tension rose to the surface, there was nowhere that Neil could hide as his worlds collided while he and his family’s future were in the balance. Injecting some much-needed tension into the proceedings, it only truly works if his character arc is believable but it’s hard to see any redeeming qualities in him whatsoever. Haunted by grief in the unsubtlest of ways, it’s hard to care about Neil other than to see him get his comeuppance. Neil clearly didn’t care so why should we? Though in terms of the other performances, Sundown was more or less him. Nevertheless, Gainsbourg made the most out of the time she had as Alice Bennett. It’s just a shame that the film couldn’t explore that brother sister relationship more than it did to bolster the characters and the tension that underlined the story.

At the end of the day, Sundown is a quick yet solid watch in spite of its flaws but one can’t help but want more.

 still courtesy of levelFilm

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.