In Cinemas from from 1st December 2022
(Reviewed by John Glennie)
The film is set in modern day Nicaragua – though it was some considerable time before that became evident! For a long time I was trying to work out where they were, and having to guess about the role of the main character, Trish (Margaret Qualley) and what may have transpired before this story begins. The producers really could have put in 5-10 minutes up front to set the scene!
It turns out that Trish is a freelance journalist who must have written an article that offended some powerful people, and her passport has been confiscated. She is desperate to get out of the country but can only buy an airline ticket with US dollars but she only has the local currency (Córdoba). It appears that a corrupt police officer is using sex to hold her to ransom. A call to her publisher requesting USD in exchange for a new article does not go well, and Trish looks like she is stranded in a hostile country until the upcoming election is over.
To find respite from the heat and humidity, she goes to the luxurious Continental Hotel. There she meets English businessman Daniel (Joe Alwyn) and ends up spending the night with him. She continues to latch onto him as he appears to be her ticket out of Nicaragua to Costa Rica. However, as time progresses, it is clear that he is in more trouble than she is. Trish keeps on trying to change her significant supply of Córdobas for USD so she can buy het ticket to freedom. She even pleads with the Vice President (Stephan Proano) whom she obviously knows (again, some up-front background scene setting would have been ideal).
When it is clearly evident that Daniel is in a lot of trouble (for what we don’t know!) they try and make it to the border to cross into Costa Rica. In the middle of nowhere, after a night stopover, Trish is confronted by an American as she is buying a coffee. It is soon apparent that he is not the business man he makes out to be but, most likely, CIA. Trish and Daniel now need to be even more vigilant if they are going to make it to safety!
It wasn’t a bad movie, but wasn’t exceptionally good either. It has the drama, a bit of excitement and intrigue, and has some pretty steamy sex scenes. I found it frustrating trying to work out who’s who and what is going on. Once that fell into place, about halfway through, it was quite captivating!
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