#Tim Roth Abandons His Life In This Chilling Slow Burn [TIFF 2021]

Roth is a blank mask here; an impenetrable fortress of a man. The actor plays Neil in such a unique still, quiet way that it’s nearly impossible to get a read on him. And that’s the point. What is Neil thinking? Why isn’t he returning home? Does he even have a plan? It takes a lot of work to play a character so closed-off, so vacant, and Roth is sensational.

Neil’s rouse quickly evaporates when Allison returns to Acapulco. She’s flabbergasted by Neil’s actions, at one point yelling, “What are you doing?” It’s a good question, and “Sundown” is in no hurry to answer it. Little by little, like a leaky faucet slowly dripping beads of water, details are revealed, and even then, we still don’t have all the answers.

The genius of “Sundown” is how little it tells us while keeping us glued to what we’re seeing. The mystery makes us hang on every moment, every line, no matter how simple. A one-word answer is suddenly loaded with weight. A silent glance says a million different things. And then the violence starts. There are multiple occasions where, seemingly out of nowhere, sudden bursts of shocking violence erupt, featuring gunfire that’s been mixed to sound as if it’s a massive explosion. It jolts us from the stillness and leaves us shaken.

Whenever I say something like “The less you know about this movie, the better it will be” in a review, I feel like it’s a cop-out, like I’m not doing my job. But the fact is that there are some movies that play best when you have as little information as possible, and “Sundown” is one of them. All you need to know is that Franco has supreme control over what he’s doing here, guiding us along by the hand towards destinations, and answers, unknown. Even when you think you know all the answers, “Sundown” will still leave you unsure, still guessing, haunted by all that was left unspoken.

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10