CARMEN (2023) – Review

Alright, you eager Summer movie blockbuster fans, cool your jets. There will be plenty of fast cars, fist fights, and superheroes headed your way in the next couple of months. For now, we can settle down for a bit of culture, a deep dive into high art. Oh, but don’t be fooled by the title, this isn’t a literal translation of the centuries-old Bizet opera. Nor is it the 50’s revamp that starred the much-missed Harry Belafonte. True, there’s a song or two, but the main mode of communication, aside from the dialogue, is dance. No tutus are seen, as it’s a gritty tale of murder of desire along the much-in-the-news Southern border involving a vet named Aidan on the US side, and on the other side, a sultry young beauty on the run named CARMEN.

And the opening scenes are set on her side, near the tiny home she shares with her mother, far away from any village. Um, I should say “shared” as Carmen (Melissa Barrera) returns there moments after a tragic event. After throwing a few belongings in a bag, she hurries to meet up with a truck headed to the border. And on that side we meet Aidan (Paul Mescal), a recently returned soldier (two stints), who’s adrift, either sweating daily boxing workouts or hanging with his old pals (though he’s now sober as he deals with PTS).. His sister urges him to head into town that night to be a volunteer observer for the border patrol (which could lead to a formal job with them). Unfortunately, he’s paired with a local “hare trigger” who has no intention of “calling it in” if he spots some illegals. He gets his chance when he spots a truck that’s broken down, with Carmen in the back. After the burst of violence, she hops into a working vehicle, just as Aidan jumps in the cargo bed. The two strangers are on the run, certain that the authorities are close behind. Yet, somehow they make it to LA, where Carmen is reunited with her aunt, Masilda (Rossy de Palma), who runs a neighborhood dance center. Masilda offers the talented Carmen a job there along with a room for her and Aidan, He needs cash to disappear into the night, and a friend tells him of an illegal underground boxing club. But can he score the big cash prize? And will he want to leave Carmen after they’ve fallen in love, a romance that may be cut short by a dogged plainclothes cop on their trail?

Though perhaps best known for her lead role in the last two entries of the SCREAM franchise, Barrera impresses with her movement skills as the haunted dancer at the center of this story. Her gestures and intense posing, often with piercing stares, draw us into her inner turmoil. Mescal makes an excellent partner, whether in a dancing duet or in the volatile verbal exchanges as they try to pierce each other’s protective emotional armor. Aidan’s may be harder than hers as his hallucinations hint at the horror he’s endured and his realization that there’s no going back. Making the most of her break from her work with Pedro Almodovar, de Palma is a riveting visual icon as her Msilda hovers over most of the drama, as though an observing titan. She comes back to Earth with her nurturing tender rapport with her adored niece. Another striking dance performance is provided by the fierce Marina Tamayo as Carmen’s doomed mama, who chooses to stare down the “devil’ rather than submit and betray. And Elsa Pataky is magnetic as the glowing blonde angel behind the bar, Gabrielle.

This marks the feature film directing debut of acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied (BLACK SWAN), who has crafted some stunning dance sequences while giving the film a unique dreamscape look and feel. Fire erupts in the desert in the dead of night along with a shower of sparks near a traveling carnival (perhaps a roadside mirage). Glowing pastel neon cuts through the midnight darkness, leading to the Oz-like LA dance haven. There is a script from Lisa Loomer, Loic Barrere, and Alexander Dinelaris adapting the Prosper Merimee novel, but much more care is devoted to the sights and sounds, rather than giving us much of a motivation for many characters, as they have hazy backstories (why must Carmen flee). A lot of it is predictable, and the big final act showdown is confusing and a tad anticlimactic with sudden location shifts and fast-forward images. The music and dance are quite distinctive, but the narrative is “waiting in the wings” in the politically charged allegories surrounding CARMEN.

2 Out of 4

CARMEN is now playing in select theatres