Amat Escalante's "Lost in the Night": Tracking the whereabouts of a mother who vanished in a silent town
A woman goes missing in a Mexican mining town. She was an activist who opposed foreign-owned mining development and protested environmental issues. Even after her disappearance, the police investigation makes no progress. Her son, Emiliano, approaches a prominent local artist named Rigoberto and his family in search of clues, attempting to uncover the truth from the inside by getting hired at their estate.
The story unfolds as personal revenge intersects with social corruption. Emiliano attempts to expose the power structure behind his mother's disappearance, but his own position becomes increasingly complicated by the secrets held by Rigoberto and his daughter. The truth he seeks becomes buried within human relationships, making it harder and harder to see.
Amat Escalante has previously depicted the violence and power structures of Mexican society in an allegorical way. In "Heli" (2013), he portrayed the control exerted by the military and drug cartels, winning the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival. In "The Untamed" (2016), he depicted the explosion of repressed desires, winning the Best Director award at the Venice International Film Festival.
"Lost in the Night" (2023) has a more classic genre film structure compared to his past works. It incorporates mystery elements and focuses the narrative on drama unfolding within a confined space. The music is composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, the composers for the Netflix series "Stranger Things," which lends a unique tension to the film.
Filming took place in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. This is an area where the crime rate has surged in recent years, and it is also where Escalante himself lives. He says, "I met many families and journalists searching for missing persons, but I decided not to depict them deeply, either visually or narratively." The focus of this work shifts from the violence of society as a whole to personal revenge.
The protagonist, Emiliano, does not just get tossed about by a large system; he tries to approach the truth with his own hands. The relationship between art and power held by Rigoberto's family is also depicted from a different angle than the themes Escalante has handled before. The story of infiltrating a wealthy family's estate is reminiscent of "Parasite," but while that film was a relatively straightforward social critique, this film aims for a different place.
While "Lost in the Night" contains the critique of power typical of Escalante, it has strong elements of a genre film. It may have been poorly received by foreign critics who unconsciously seek "that kind of thing" in Mexican cinema, but this is a personal story. Escalante is questioning the choices made by people living in Mexico.
World premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the "Cannes Premiere" section. Japanese release date TBD.