Safe Return Doubtful

Argentina 2023

This is a wonderfully tense noir mystery that rewards patience; both parts I and II taken together make up four and a half hours.

As many mysteries do, it begins in the middle. When botanist Laura goes missing, her older boyfriend, Rafa, and would be suitor Chicho, team up to search for her, but find no trace, nor any apparent reason for her disappearance. She left with Chicho’s car, so it seems to them unlikely she was abducted. Rafa convinces himself that she is in away in pursuit of a new orchid and will re-emerge once her work is completed. But they find a note from Laura, to Chicho, concerning a project they were working on. In addition to her work as a botanist, Laura has a spot on the radio where she brings attention to historic women. During research for this at the library, she has found love letters hidden in pages of books that border on the pornographic.

Part One concerns Laura’s life prior to disappearance, told as flashbacks, and her developing affair with Chicho.

The second part begins with a seemingly unrelated mystery.

Director Laura Citarella deliberately avoids convention, the film may well fit into the noir category, but refuses to follow its norms, most obviously in its cinematography, its score and its chapter structure, which when presented always abruptly interrupt the conversation or the music.

As if to stress this, Citarella introduces an element of science fiction, which moves the fable temporarily into absurdist territory. At the same time, new characters, new micro-mysteries, are continually introduced.

When the ending arrives, it is as ambiguous as one might expect. Has the mystery been solved, or are its various strands left to meander on endlessly – viewers will have different opinions.

Any degree of unresolution seems perversely satisfying however. That is the sort of film this is. The real fascination is in the dialogue, like in the best noir. Any application of logic is likely to be a waste, rather sit back and enjoy the reaction of the characters to the situations they are presented with.

It is a highly entertaining piece of what I suppose may best be termed, anti-noir.

One of the best films of the year.

IMDb score 7.3 / 10 – My score 9 / 10