Review of Post Tenebras Lux (2012) by Kevin N — 14 Jun 2013

Here are two hours of memories and ideas straight from the mind of director Carlos Reygadas, without organization, purpose or intent. Reygadas is so confident that the images floating around in his head are worthy of the world's admiration that he presents them without narrative, structure or commentary.

Now don't misunderstand my criticism; anyone who knows me knows I lean toward the bizarre and the surreal, and traditional plotting and narrative beats have never been a necessity in the movies I love.

But Reygadas' vision is so somber and pretentious, so humorless and meandering that I began praying for these vignettes to hit a meaningful storyline. Of course they never did. The film is equal parts Malick, Fellini, Lynch and Haneke (of course without the vision, comic touches, imagination and commentary of those directors) and focuses on a family in minor crisis throughout a series of years.

The center of their struggles seems to come from a surging sexual frustration, both parents seeking but never finding satisfaction to their kinky and erotic hunger. Even Freud would find himself yawning.

The only thing to commend about this picture is its visuals, which can be quite striking at times, though even that style becomes monotonous and repetitive as we become overexposed to it. Dull, pretentious hogwash, soon to be forgotten and lost to the years, I'm sure.