This film is part of Rentals
A Common Crime [Un crimen común]
There are echoes of Lucrecia Martel’s The Headless Woman in this gripping tale of class divisions and ethical responsibility in contemporary Argentina.
Director: Francisco Márquez
Overview
Middle-class economics lecturer Cecilia lives with her young son, Juan. Housekeeper Nebe helps out with chores and childcare. One stormy night, Nebe’s son knocks at the door, but Cecilia doesn’t let him in. On hearing that he has been ‘disappeared’ by the police, she is forced to face the consequences of a decision that betrays wider systematic inequalities.
A formal and disarming brilliance characterises director Francisco Márquez’s eerie treatment of the aftermath of ‘the crime’, with a heightened sense of paranoia increasingly evident as Cecilia’s calm exterior begins to crack. Elisa Carricajo (La Flor) is spellbinding as this troubled protagonist, capturing in the most minimal of gestures the interior turmoil that Márquez projects so effectively through the film’s visual and sonic landscapes.
moderate supernatural threat
Related
The Quiet Girl The Quiet Girl
Drama 2021 91 mins Director: Colm Bairéad
A neglected girl lives a joyful summer in Colm Bairéad's Academy Award-nominated debut that combines outstanding beauty and heart-wrenching performances.
Summer 1993 Summer 1993
Drama 2017 98 mins Director: Carla Simón
An outstanding debut feature charting the emotional journey of a six-year old girl in the aftermath of her mother’s death in early 1990s Spain.
Home Home
Drama 2008 94 mins Director: Ursula Meier
Ursula Meier's dark semi-comic fable concerns a family living next to an unused motorway. Isabelle Huppert and Olivier Gourmet excel as the parents.
Ava Ava
Drama 2020 103 mins Director: Sadaf Foroughi
Sadaf Foroughi's gripping debut about a young girl's coming-of-age in a strict, traditional society.
Firebird Firebird
Drama 2021 107 mins Director: Peeter Rebane
At the height of the Cold War, a love triangle between a junior officer, his best friend and a handsome fighter pilot enters dangerous territory.
Sweet Thing Sweet Thing
Drama 2020 91 mins Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Three children embark on a wild trek across Massachusetts, crossing paths with a variety of eccentrics, in this poetic drama from 90s indie hero Alexandre Rockwell (In The Soup).
The Quiet Girl The Quiet Girl
Drama 2021 91 mins Director: Colm Bairéad
A neglected girl lives a joyful summer in Colm Bairéad's Academy Award-nominated debut that combines outstanding beauty and heart-wrenching performances.
All is Vanity All is Vanity
Fantasy 2021 72 mins Director: Marcos Mereles
Marcos Mereles’ archly funny, endlessly inventive and reflexive puzzle piece explores a strange disappearance at a hip London fashion shoot.
Summer 1993 Summer 1993
Drama 2017 98 mins Director: Carla Simón
An outstanding debut feature charting the emotional journey of a six-year old girl in the aftermath of her mother’s death in early 1990s Spain.
Home Home
Drama 2008 94 mins Director: Ursula Meier
Ursula Meier's dark semi-comic fable concerns a family living next to an unused motorway. Isabelle Huppert and Olivier Gourmet excel as the parents.
Ava Ava
Drama 2020 103 mins Director: Sadaf Foroughi
Sadaf Foroughi's gripping debut about a young girl's coming-of-age in a strict, traditional society.
I Am Samuel I Am Samuel
Documentary 2021 68 mins Director: Pete Murimi
Kenyan couple Samuel and Alex remain committed to each other despite the danger facing them in Peter Murimi’s moving documentary.