Tunisian director Ala Eddine Slim’s 2016 debut “The Last of Us” garnered a certain cult following after its Venice premiere thanks to the film’s intriguing, at times mesmeric images in which the lead literally fades into his environment. With his followup “Tlamess,” the filmmaker initially appears to be charting new paths until about one-quarter in, when he returns to the idea of a loner becoming one with his surroundings. The concern isn’t the sense of déjà vu — viewers enthralled by the first might be just as happy to re-engage with Slim’s singular vision — so much as his problematic approach to the female character, relegated to being merely a vessel made superfluous once her biological function is over. The conceit is troubling no matter how the opaque scenes are read, making “Tlamess” (the word means an enchantress’ spell as well as something inexplicable) a difficult sell outside avant-garde-leaning festivals.
- 6/2/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
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