48/40
One night, the arrival of young Heraldo changes the daily life of the place for good
Narrative
Under a burning sky on a roadside on the coast of Ceará, Motel Destino is the scene of dangerous games of desire, power and violence. Sixth film by Karim Aïnouz to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, after Madame Satã (2002), O Abismo Prateado (2011) and Nevidljivi Life of Eurídice Gusmão (2019), Sailor of the Mountains (2021) and Firebrand (2023). Karim Aïnouz’s latest erotic thriller Motel Destino is a delicious cinematic mix of desire, sex and crime.
This year, Motel Destino competed for both the Palme d’Or and the Queer Palme
Aïnouz is a Cannes favorite, with six of his films having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival so far. Located somewhere on the coast of Brazil, Motel Destino is a dingy, neon-lit sex motel. The hotel is run by Elias and his partner Dayana, who are indifferent to the motel’s world of sex and crime.
He soon becomes part of the couple’s dynamic, upsetting the established order
They get so drawn into this world that Elias is often caught in voyeuristic masturbation while covering up criminal acts to keep the police at bay. This is a place where no guests stay long and no one asks questions. One day, the young and attractive Heraldo arrives at the motel, bringing with him his own baggage of crime.
Heraldo’s close-ups of his naked body show him as strong and fragile at the same time
The three main characters then venture into the third and final act of this queer noir film as they reach their destiny. The film is brilliantly shot, with intense, uncomfortable close-ups of the characters, faces caught in their situation, and sweaty bodies pumping with desire. Dayana is tender and longingly waiting for someone to give her a glimmer of hope to escape her abusive relationship with Elias.
The film’s color palette seamlessly alternates between neon red and blue, with red symbolizing the inmates’ carnal desires and blue representing the horrific feeling of emptiness that follows the elation
Motel Destino masterfully focuses on raw emotions and carnal desires captured through brilliant cinematography, the somewhat lacking world-building in the beginning seems deliberate, giving the audience a sense of detachment from society…. Worth watching… Adios…
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