Popular reviews

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  Review by Andrei Girard ★★★

  I had the pleasure of watching this new Costa Rican film, which premiered earlier this year in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, and it was selected as the Costa Rican entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.

  "Elijo ser viento para evitar el misterio de no saber qué hacer con el cuerpo"

  This is a film that takes us into the mountains of Costa Rica, where the cold, the fog and the lush green are part of the landscape, and whose ghostly atmosphere is dense, mysterious and pervasive. In fact, this is a tale of solitude, death, grief and guilt, told in the form of a ghost story. The cinematography is…

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  Review by Ashlea💧🦎🐜 ★★★★★

  I would lay down my life to bring Mitzi back: I want to walk into the mist. A beautiful, spectacular film by rising Costa Rican auteur Ariel Escalante (who was also very friendly and inspiring in person). I adored the moody, punk aesthetic and spirit; themes of grief, regret, the afterlife, violence and injustice. Angry poeticism is very much for me. I was enveloped by the film as much as the mist surrounding Domingo. Carlos Ureña has an incredible screen presence and ended his career with a glorious bang. Watch it at the cinema if you get the chance.

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  Review by Geovanny Porras-Cordero ★★½

  Definitivamente, el mejor aspecto de Domingo y la Niebla es la fotografía. Fuera de eso, se trata de un conjunto de buenas ideas con cero desarrollo.
  Me parece que el actor principal hizo un buen trabajo, aunque su personaje está escrito como un ente casi impresionista rodeado de un ambiente que no combina.
  La película intenta hacernos reflexionar hacia el final, pero en realidad se trata de un conglomerado de ideas que nunca se desarrollan y que acaban siendo empujadas a la fuerza en la mente del espectador.
  La utilización de la niebla es interesante, pero, una vez más, no va a ninguna parte. Desde su primera intervención, quedó claro que la niebla es su esposa visitándolo, pero no ocurre…

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  Review by Mike Kennedy ★★★½ 2

  Writer/director Ariel Escalante’s film is another film in this MIFF built around the theme of complex grief with sub-threads about guilt and memories/ghosts.

  Domingo (Carlos Ureña) is an ageing farmer, living alone in Casajal de Coronado not far from San Jose in Costa Rica.  He inherited his dairy farm from his father, who had let it run down and Domingo now has only one cow.  A company building a major highway wants to buy the farm but Domingo does not want to sell because he believes that the mists that envelope the farm and the valley are the spirit of his dead wife.

  Most of the surrounding farmers have sold up, the last few under pressure, and the road company…

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  Review by nico ng ★★½

  festival de cine de lima pucp #3

  mfs in costa rica be like: "damn, this weed smoke good, must be my dead wife".

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  Review by juliomont8888 ★★★

  Con excepción de un par de actuaciones, esta película es técnicamente competente. Sin embargo, la historia, a como está estructurada, se queda un tanto falta de sustancia para la duración. 

  Destaco bastante la atmosférica cinematografía, así como los sonidos de elementos invasores que no se ven (tractores, explosiones, y, hasta cierto momento, ruido de motocicletas) y que claramente corrompen la armonía y tranquilidad natural del lugar y los habitantes, contrastando justamente con las silenciosas e inquietantes escenas de neblina, que es un protagonista más.

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  Review by Julian ★★★★

  I could talk about how beautifully mystical and meditative this film is, but I really just want that yellow jacket

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  Review by Alfred Haddon ★★★★

  Powerful and incendiary. Palpable grief and rage that makes it a pretty tough watch, but also completely engaging despite moving rather meditatively.

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  Review by Caroline ★½ 1

  Énorme bravo au chef op, super boulot au niveau des textures et des lumières, le résultat est assez fabuleux. 

  Mais sans déconner. 
  C’est l’un des films les plus CHIANTS que j’ai vu de ma vie. 
  Qu’une heure et vingt-huit minutes et j’ai vu défiler ma vie 3 fois, j’ai eu le temps de faire des gosses de les amener à la crèche et fêter leurs 18 ans. De rembourser mon prêt immobilier, de faire un doctorat et de trouver le vaccin contre le sida. 

  (Gros big up au pélo à côté de moi qui visiblement vivait un supplice il a passé les vingt dernières minutes la tête recroquevillée dans ses mains il en avait plus. rien. à. foutre. Je pense que je pourrai mener ma guerre contre les films contemplatifs avec lui)

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  Review by Mark ★★½

  I really enjoyed the moody atmosphere and gorgeous visuals, but struggled with a narrative unable to examine its key themes of predatory capitalism and modernisation. It felt flimsy and lightweight despite the severity of the stakes for the major players. All sizzle and no steak, but I very much enjoyed that sizzle.

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  Review by Serge B ★½ 2

  So, míster Domingo here has THE fanciest sweaters and shirts I’ve seen. Like, where does he do his shopping? Did he go to the mall and pick the most expensive ones? And, like, his sense of fashion is on point! Mixing colors and contrasting with the darker tones of his movie. I wonder if his laundry dries out well with all that humidity.
  The ubiquitous mist here started out as a fun character, but it ended up being forgotten and left out, just like the smoke monster from Lost. Luckily, mister Domingo was reunited with his mist, in a sorta, kinda, maybe happy ending(?); a little bit too creepy for my taste.
  Because there is sooo much walking here, I didn’t even get to find out what this movie is about. Here’s a guess: a creepy, drunken, very fashionable old man who talks to his mist, and big corporations are bad. Sure.

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  Review by Pablo Aguilar ★★★

  Valiente propuesta dentro del marco del cine costarricense en donde todo es o blanco o negro, o te cuenta toda una historia de la manera más vulgarmente comercial posible, o no te cuenta nada y entre más ambigua sea la narrativa, mejor.

  Domingo y la Niebla termina siendo un gris oscuro, donde se extiende demasiado lo que quiere contar, la historia está acompañada, en su mayoría, por paisajes que le van muy bien, no se ve un solo rayo de sol en toda la película, buenas actuaciones también, a excepción de la normativa clásica de acá: un personaje sobre actuado con ese tono de voz clásico, detestable y caricaturesco, el final es muy destacable así como su fotografía.
  En fin..