Motel Destino

Motel Destino is a pretty ordinary love story with a predictable plot, the kind we’ve seen a thousand times, only set in a less typical environment for us. The vast majority of the film takes place in a sex hotel. The sex is not so much on camera, but rather permanently audible out of frame (from the rooms). This film doesn't strike me as anything very interesting or original (except maybe the constant moaning), without much substance, and I don't really see why it was chosen for the main Palme d'Or competition. [Festival de Cannes 2024] (05/30/2024)

A sex-packed would-be thriller/drama with a dysfunctional romantic motif. When the main characters aren’t having sex, donkeys are mating in the yard or one of the dozen couples or threesomes are going at it in a by-the-hour hotel, where half of the film takes place. And if not that, at least the sound of intercourse is heard from the televisions in the hotel rooms. Heavy breathing can be heard in the background in all of the scenes set in the hotel, even when the main characters are just talking. While there is an abundance of sexual elements to marvel at, there is zero emotion and somehow no joy in the filmmaking. I find that disconcerting coming from Karim Aïnouz, whose The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmao was for me the greatest surprise of Cannes 2019. Two and a half stars. [Cannes FF] (05/24/2024)