The Forgiven

Richard Galloway (Matt Smith) and his gay partner Dally Margolis (Caleb Landry Jones) have created a private resort in the Moroccan desert. Hard-drinking surgeon David Henninger (Ralph Fiennes) and his wife Jo (Jessica Chastain) are two of their guests. In the dark of night, David gets lost driving to the resort. He hits and kills a local boy.

This reminds me of the TV show, The White Lotus. The guests are entitled and selfish. They make many assumptions about the locals. The locals have their own prejudices. It's a clash of cultures and classes. It raises uncomfortable questions about people. Unlike White Lotus, this does not use as much ironic humor and has the intensity raised up especially in David's journey. I could do with less Jo. Once David is headed out into the desert, the resort life holds much less importance.

Moody, ambient film set in the rich beauty of desert Morocco. Suspenseful and full of Moroccan culture and influence. A morality tale between the haves and the have nots. Quite arresting, lush cinematography. I have visited Morrocco this year and appreciated the slice of culture. Tense and surprising.

The sets and landscapes are breathtaking. The cinematography outstanding. The performances are all stellar. And even though the pacing is slow enough to make the 117 min runtime feel much longer, writer and director John Michael McDonagh still manages to capture every special close-up shot and proverbial comment well enough to drive the hidden messages right through your heart.

However, as pretty and shiny as this film is, all the bloated intrigue and drama fails to deliver the true depth of the film. There's just too much filler and not enough substance. This film needed the mysteries and messaging to be harder, and the shallow pretentious eye-candy to be softer. Even the predicable ending could've been more exciting.

Nevertheless, a beautifully shot film with excellent performances that still manages to deliver a thought provoking message when morality is crossed with spoiled and entitled privilege, and the consequences that follow. It's a great one-time watch and a well deserved 7/10 from me.

An out of touch and dislikeable group of misfits, also rans and holier-than-thous, gather in a remote part of Morocco to celebrate and carouse, where an unfortunate accident ends with distress, and the source of the sorrow, must seek forgiveness.

Fundamentally, a film about the disregard, disrespect and contempt we have for cultures alien to our own, as well as to those closer to home, including friends and those more dear.

Whether you dislike the story and/or the characters, the acting and presentation is top drawer.

I don't know the book and this is a movie, and thus a review of the movie. The movie was full of cliches and I had a feeling that it tried to be more than it could do. It was trying to be Agatha Christie kind of mysterious story, failing. There were wannabe characters of this and that which though lacked the charisma and the character. But the trying showed. Great actors Jessica and Ralph didn't shine. Not because they were bad but the movie just didn't work. It got slightly better on the second half, but still left lukewarm feelings.