Motel Destino

Karim Aïnouz's latest erotic thriller Motel Destino is a delicious cinematic mix of desire, sex, and crime. Aïnouz is a Cannes favorite, with six of his films having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival till now. This year, Motel Destino competed for both the Palme d'Or and the Queer Palm.

Set somewhere on the coast of Brazil, Motel Destino is a dingy sex motel characterized by neon lights. The hotel is run by Elias and his partner Dayana, who are indifferent to the world of sex and crime within the motel. They are sucked into this world so much that Elias is often found voyeuristically self-pleasuring and covering up criminal acts to keep the police at bay. This is a place where no guests stay for long, and no one asks any questions. One day, the young and attractive Heraldo arrives at the motel, bringing his own criminal baggage. He soon becomes a part of the couple's dynamic, disrupting the established order. The three principal characters then venture into the third and final act of this queer noir film as they reach their destinies.

The film is brilliantly shot, with intense, uncomfortable close-ups of the characters' faces trapped in their situations, and sweaty bodies pumping with desire. Heraldo's close-up shots of his naked body depict him as both strong and fragile at the same time. Dayana has a tenderness and is eagerly waiting for someone to give her a shimmer of hope to escape her abusive relationship with Elias. The film's color palette seamlessly switches between neon red and blue, red signifying the carnal desires of the occupants, and blue representing the dreadful feeling of emptiness that follows the high.

With Motel Destino focusing on raw emotions and carnal desires, masterfully captured through brilliant cinematography, the somewhat lack of world-building in the beginning seems intentional, giving the audience a sense of detachment from society.... Worth Watching... Adios...

Directed by Karim Aïnouz, the movie offers a mixture of desire, love, and crime in a story that follows young Heraldo finding sanctuary in a motel by the beach, where he is soon immersed into unexpected situations where erotic and power tension surface while hiding from the gangsters who are after him.

Motel Destino, Portuguese for destiny, is a sex motel where the lives of Heraldo, Dayana, and Elias will cross paths. It is a movie about what destiny has in store for these characters, who seem more than once to be defying their own destiny. Dayana and Elias, the owners of the motel, will find in Heraldo not only a young boy who they like and are willing to help, but also a seed that will bloom unforeseen challenges in their lives. The cast does an excellent job in contributing to the uprising tension between them. Gazes that tell more than enough to interpret their owner's intentions are the physical manifestations of said tension. Sometimes they are the product of desire, and other times of jealousy, but they are always there, ready to cast what they are feeling.

The cinematography of the movie is constantly reinforcing the location and the surrounding elements of Motel Destino. Beaches, palms, sand, swimming pools, a light-colored palette, elements conveying hot days of summer where desire blooms. Desire that also manifests in their bodies, especially when naked, by channeling doses of eroticism that have to be released, but also of their immanent vulnerability. When a day comes to an end and the night takes its place, the location transmits the looming dangers of the relationships bonded by the motel. Barely lighted highways, the neon lights of the motel, and the secrets its walls harbor, open the door for dangerous destinies ready to realize themselves.

A movie about emancipation from what we know constitutes our everyday lives. Between the walls of Motel Destino, the corridors become larger by reason of desire alone, carnal desire in its purest form, but also desire for a better life away from what defines us.

Karim Aïnouz's direction, the camerawork, atmosphere, and strong performances create an interesting erotic thriller with blended themes of modern noir, crime, escapism, sex, and horiness.

Filled with colorful production, sound designs and atmosphere, it's interesting Brazilian take on the noir genre is held pretty well with the direction and approach it took. Creating a good observation of a journey of a man who desires escape and encounters the troubles along the process of escaping. The erotic thriller elements work well with it's setting and despite the characters, while could have been a bit more stronger with connection, remain interesting since it is filled with strong performances from all over of the cast members.

Despite not the grandest story, the narrative offers interesting concepts and applied with the good atmosphere, it remains vibrate, colorful, and engaging. Including a really engaging third act.

As a whole, Karim Aïnouz never over welcome his stay and still always offers something unique or interesting.

Motel Destino is a visually hypnotic and emotionally intense film that dives into the chaos of youth, love, and survival. Set in a sultry, decaying motel, it captures a sense of isolation and longing with dreamlike cinematography. The characters are fragile yet volatile, and while the plot sometimes drifts, the mood never lets go. It's not a film for everyone, but for those drawn to dark, atmospheric storytelling, it offers a raw and lingering experience.

Synopsis: The neon-hued Motel Destino is a roadside sex hotel under the burning blue skies of the coast of Northern Brazil, run by the boorish Elias and his frustrated, beautiful wife Dayana. When 21 year-old Heraldo finds himself at the motel, after messing up a hit and going on the run from both the police and the gang he let down, Dayana finds herself intrigued and lets him stay. As the two navigate a dance of power, desire and liberation, a dangerous plan for freedom emerges. In this tropical noir, loyalties and desires intertwine, revealing that destiny has its own enigmatic design.

Twenty year old "Heraldo" (Iago Xavier) is hoping to leave his seaside Brazilian home and head to São Paolo and make a fresh start. Thing is, his elder brother "Jorge" (Renan Capivara) and he owe the local queenpin "Bambina" (Fabiola Liper) one last favour. "Heraldo" goes out and gets laid in the town's knocking-shop-cum-motel and awakens to discover that his brother tried to do the job en seul and, well now the young man has to find somewhere to hide. Fortunately, he made a bit of an impression at the motel with it's owner "Dayana" (Nataly Rocha) and so she agrees to shelter him whilst her brutish and frequently drunk husband "Elias" (Fâbio Assunção) lets him do odd jobs. From here on in, you can probably guess what happens and that's not without it's just deserts and irony. There's some humour to be had, plenty of sex (even the donkey's get some fun) but as the thriller element starts to kick in the writing starts to become more important and doesn't really rise to the occasion as it gallops along to it's conclusion. There is some sexually charged chemistry between Rocha and Xavier but too much of the plot is either implied or just plain missing and in the end, though it's a good looking and effectively seamy looking production, it disappointingly ran out of steam.