Featured Audience Ratings

• Robert C

  
  At face value, this is a good film. Great cast, believable dialog, location that is intriguing but not distracting. It's not until you start to dig a little deeper and really think about all of the symbolism and emotions (both spoken and unspoken), that you start to realize… More
  At face value, this is a good film. Great cast, believable dialog, location that is intriguing but not distracting. It's not until you start to dig a little deeper and really think about all of the symbolism and emotions (both spoken and unspoken), that you start to realize what a beautiful and heartbreaking love story it is.

• jay n

  
  Beautiully wrought story of a man coming to grips with his true self. Exquisite performances with Cristian Mercado absolutely riveting in the lead. This isn't a film that provides easy answers or comforting assurances, life in this village is a tough ingrained macho stronghold… More
  Beautiully wrought story of a man coming to grips with his true self. Exquisite performances with Cristian Mercado absolutely riveting in the lead. This isn't a film that provides easy answers or comforting assurances, life in this village is a tough ingrained macho stronghold even though a small glimmer of progession is allowed to shine though near the end. Mercado shows the intense struggle the main character must navigate to not only make peace with a crushing tragedy but learn how to align his moral code with something that could cost him everything he hasn't already lost. Deeply affecting and well worh seeking out.

• Walter M

  
  In the beginning, there is the belly, of very, very pregnant Mariela(Tatiana Astengo) who is enjoying some down time with her husband Miguel(Christian Mercado). That is interrupted by his cousin Tano(Juan Pablo Olivos) who wants him to preside over his brother's burial at sea,… More
  In the beginning, there is the belly, of very, very pregnant Mariela(Tatiana Astengo) who is enjoying some down time with her husband Miguel(Christian Mercado). That is interrupted by his cousin Tano(Juan Pablo Olivos) who wants him to preside over his brother's burial at sea, per local custom. Otherwise, life goes on in his fishing village where Santiago(Manolo Cardona), a handsome artist, has taken up residence and is having a torrid secret affair with Miguel. Santiago also takes the time to buy Mariela a candle at the market. So, when Santiago shows up unannounced in his house one morning, Miguel is angry but it is nowhere near close to what he is thinking... "Undertow" has some beautiful footage, a neat premise and respect for local traditions. But the movie suffers from a near fatal case of indecision that leads to a slow pace that cannot be explained away by the leisurely rhythm of life in this village. The movie would want us to believe the indecision is due to Miguel not being able to make up his mind who to be with, but I have no problem with bisexuality. Admittedly, if he had acted decisively at one point about something else, it would have saved him a lot of trouble down the line. Rather, it is the story that has little direction after the plot kicks in, with the movie eventually just coming to a halt.

• Jeff T

  
  This unexpectedly lovely film from Peru is a sweet surprise. A gentle kind-of coming out story set in a Peruvian fishing village, it is also as tender as it is straight-forward, even when delving into a bit of magical realism territory. It's the story of a married fisherman in… More
  This unexpectedly lovely film from Peru is a sweet surprise. A gentle kind-of coming out story set in a Peruvian fishing village, it is also as tender as it is straight-forward, even when delving into a bit of magical realism territory. It's the story of a married fisherman in what seems like a perfectly happy marriage who is also deeply involved with a painter on the side. To give too much away would be robbing this simple story of some of its surprise, but suffice to say it's about a guy who has no intention of coming out and finds out life has other things in mind for him. Though some of the storytelling is a little on the blunt side, there is so much gentleness to the delivery of the story that it doesn't matter in the least. Beautifully acted by its three leads, it's a sweet surprise and should've gotten noticed by more people. Check it out!

• Glenn G

  
  This is a film to seek out and love. Peru's official Foreign Language Film entry for Academy Award consideration, UNDERTOW is a lyrical, gently, deeply moving tale of an unusual love triangle set in a remote Peruvian fishing village. All begins very sweetly as a man and his… More
  This is a film to seek out and love. Peru's official Foreign Language Film entry for Academy Award consideration, UNDERTOW is a lyrical, gently, deeply moving tale of an unusual love triangle set in a remote Peruvian fishing village. All begins very sweetly as a man and his wife await the birth of their first child, but the fact that he has a secret male lover complicates matters. The turning point, which employs a bit of magical realism, is better left unsaid here, as I feel it's better for you to discover this wonderful film as it unfolds. Needless to say, the triangle proves to me a major dramatic element in the story, but it's the deliberate pacing, the wonderful performances of its three gorgeous leads, the stunning seaside imagery, and the respect writer/director Javier Fuentes-Leon has for his characters and the audiences, that puts this film a cut above. This is no "Oh Girl" gay film. It's vivid, fresh, and truly heartfelt. It's little wonder it won a major award at this year's Sundance Film Festival as well as countless others. If you don't live in NY or LA, call your local cinema and ask for it. If you live in the major cities, what are you sitting here for? Get out there and support independent cinema before 3D craptastic comic books become the norm, not the exception. Oops, too late.