There are few signs that 2020’s New Order and Sundown come from the same writer/director, but they are there if you look for them. There is the same casual brutality and almost humour Michel Franco depicts violence, the first act of violence in Sundown happens so abruptly at the beach, but no one bats an eye. It’s a “drive-by” shooting on the beach done via sea doo. The other similarity between the films is the class divide. However, that’s where the similarities end and, if you want a Franco film that’s more similar in tone, that would be his earlier film, April’s Daughter.
We meet Neil with his family at a luxury resort in Acapulco. While the kids seem to be enjoying themselves, the adults seem to struggle to find their bliss on the vacation. Neil especially seems to have something weighing on him as he stares off into the sunset ignoring calls from the outside world. However, Alice (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg) does take a call and finds out there’s a death in their family. They all make a rush to the airport to get home to London, only once at the airport, Neil says his passport is missing. He promises he’ll find it and be right behind them, only we know this is a lie (or if true, he doesn’t care) because the second they leave, he gets into a cab and asks to get taken to any hotel. For whatever reason, he has no intention of joining his family back in London and is using this as an opportunity to escape.
In place of the luxury hotel, he now finds himself staying in a room that costs the equivalent of $50 USD/Night, and instead of private beaches and pools, he finds himself on a beach with buckets of beer. And he’s a lot more content. He meets Bernice (played by Iazua Larios) and he gets into a relationship. All the while ignoring the repeated calls from Alice.
This is a film, so eventually, Neil is forced to face the things he avoids. It starts when Alice returns to Mexico, having figured out where he’s been hiding. After that, the house of cards comes crashing down, like a drive-by sea doo.
The film relies as much on coincidence as it does on Michael Franco’s established views on violence in Mexico. After the backlash for racism that he got with New Order, particularly from within Mexico itself, you would’ve perhaps thought he’d have been more conscious about that when displaying violence in this film.
Sundown marks the second film that Tim Roth has done with Michel Franco, and you can tell there is a level of trust between both of them because this film lives a lot in quiet moments, and that is the greatest act of faith. Words can make it easier to show/convey what a character is feeling to the audience and advance the story, but when you keep quiet and rely on looks and body language, you need confidence in a good partnership to achieve the goal. Tim Roth’s want, his hollowness was on display from those first scenes. And in the latter half of the film, when we better understood his relationship with Alice, and then why he was pulling away from the family, all his silent actions became clearer.
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