Undocumented

A very pleasant surprise. A group of students are making a documentary about Mexican refugees and, as it’s usual in the genre, they get into trouble. No, they don’t get lost in the forest, they get in conflict with some kind of radical organisation that solves the immigrant problem in their own (radical) way. The static documentary format blends with live found footage, and from to time it’s shot like a normal feature film. Undocumented knows how use the best of these strategies while avoiding their shortcomings and limitations. The result is an original and tense film with a format that doesn’t grind but entertains. Thematically, Undocumented forms an interesting trio with the recent (and equally good) Territories and Red State. Make yourself some time and watch all three at once. (10/08/2011)

Make America Sadistic Again. Among the forms of functionally toggling torture porn, which is unsettling due to its placement in an easily imaginable framework. There are many people like Peter Stormare wandering the world with a sack on their head, but fortunately, most of them are holding a keyboard instead of a weapon. (06/12/2023)