Auteur Michel Franco does a 180 with his latest film Sundown, a cold-eyed stare at existential crisis starring Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The two look like a couple on a peaceful and luxurious vacation with their kids at an allinclusive resort in Acapulco, light-years away from the excruciating bloodbath of New Order (2020). Then the phone rings, and it is revealed to the viewers that they are siblings being summoned back home to keep their mother′s deathbed. Neil′s apathetic and alienated attitude is met with frustration and infuriation from his sobbing family members. He idles his days and nights on the beach, but the premonition of impending doom is foreshadowed by a shocking random shooting scene, after which people continue to enjoy as if nothing had ever happened. The film rolls on for 80 minutes undemanding and unhurried, but the master craftsman′s effortless direction upholds the tension and suspense throughout, and makes you question the pre-existing notions you might have about human nature. (Karen PARK)