★ 7 / 10
I finish 'The Exiles' with a strange feeling
Christian M
I finish 'The Exiles' with a strange feeling. For much of the film, it seems empty, moving forward with a light script that offers little to hold onto. Yet…
I finish 'The Exiles' with a strange feeling. For much of the film, it seems empty, moving forward with a light script that offers little to hold onto. Yet beneath that simplicity lies the portrait of a broken family already marked by tragedy and perhaps heading toward even greater pain. The film even provokes a personal reflection: imagining oneself in that situation.
Elvira Lara convincingly portrays the abrupt transition from youth to adulthood with a natural performance, though the most striking presence is Antonia Zegers, whose harsher and more unsettling character adds tension.
The storytelling is calm and discreet, avoiding spectacle. It belongs to what I call "passive cinema": films that move slowly and rely on the viewer’s patience rather than technical display. In that sense, it reminds me of 'Nymphomaniac'.
In the end, it leaves a positive but measured impression: quiet, restrained cinema whose weight appears on reflection.
★ 7 / 10
The passage of "passive cinema".
I finish 'The Exiles' with a strange feeling. For much of the journey, I have the impression that I'm watching an empty film, a work that seems to move forward…
I finish 'The Exiles' with a strange feeling. For much of the journey, I have the impression that I'm watching an empty film, a work that seems to move forward with a light script, without offering something solid to fully hold onto. But when I look at it more carefully, I realize something: beneath that seemingly empty story lies the portrait of a broken family-one that has already suffered the blow that changes everything and yet still seems to be heading toward an even greater pain.It isn't only about facing a tragic event. In fact, while watching it, I couldn't help imagining myself in that same situation, thinking that something like that could happen to me. That's an effect the film manages to provoke.Elvira Lara portrays with precision that aggressive transition from childhood into adulthood-the moment when innocence doesn't fade slowly but breaks abruptly. Well, not exactly a child since she's already in university, but you get the idea. And I believe her. I believe what she feels and what she conveys. It won't be a performance destined to remain in the viewer's memory, but it has the qualities to feel genuine-natural enough. However, the one who ultimately dominates the screen is Antonia Zegers. Her performance is harsher and more uncomfortable. At times her character irritates me, and that's precisely where its strength lies. She isn't unpleasant to me, but she manages to get on my nerves, to unsettle me, and to provoke reactions through certain gestures and attitudes. It's a sharp, expressive performance in which the face says as much-or more-than the words. She builds something complex and alive.In general terms, the film adopts a calm, almost discreet way of telling its story. It's not a staging that tries to dazzle or underline anything. It always maintains a functional and correct structure; the scenes fulfill their purpose within the emotional journey. At times I wonder whether I'm watching a story with real development or simply the exposition of a flat idea. There's a kind of cinema that has always interested me-and bored me in equal measure, to be honest-that I tend to call "passive cinema." Films that don't need grand displays, that move forward very slowly, trusting that the viewer will sustain the effort and patience required. 'The Exiles' belongs to that territory: a cinema that simply tells and conveys, without drawing much attention to its technical machinery. Its aesthetic proposal is sober and manages not to pull me out of the experience. I mean the kind of cinema about which I often hear people say that the screenwriter must have fallen asleep while writing.This is a somewhat silly comparison and not very related-how could I really compare one work to another?-but it constantly reminds me of Nymphomaniac. A duology that I liked very much for the way it explores and reflects on nymphomania and sexual desire. I mention it because those films have such a sober visual style and such a "passive" script, so to speak, that it often feels like nothing is happening-that they're just conversations. But they aren't only that. They are, as I said, essays about sex and its pros and cons. They deal with deeply philosophical and morally questionable themes, and that's where their strength lies. They don't need great technical showmanship to be great films. They are also "passive cinema."The title 'The Exiles' suggests a metaphor that, honestly, initially felt a bit silly to me, but it ultimately makes complete sense. In the end, what remains for me is a positive yet nuanced impression. It's not a work that fascinates or overwhelms me. It's quiet, restrained cinema-and it's in that second look where it begins to reveal its real weight. And I won't lie: maybe I'd give it a 7/10 because I was feeling generous; otherwise, it would probably be a 6/10.
80%
AUDIENCE
6.3/10
376
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Looks good, thanks!