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Review: Sniffing Out Guilt in a Strangely Engaging ‘Border’
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By Glenn Kenny
- Oct. 25, 2018
Tina works security at a Swedish port. As passengers walk up a long corridor toward the terminal, she stands and looks at them. And she sniffs. Sometimes her lip curls, revealing stubby, yellow teeth. Her jutting brow ridge furrows a bit. If something agitates her, she growls. Quietly, as if trying to suppress it.
She’s good at her job. For some reason she can literally sniff out guilt. Usually she catches banal lawbreakers — underage kids trying to smuggle a little booze. But one day she detains a well-dressed man who has a SIM card full of child pornography.
Tina, the main character in Ali Abbasi’s “Border,” lives at a remove from society, in a forest house she shares with a man who raises dogs that she can’t be around. Enlisted by higher authorities to dig deeper into the child pornography case, she’s suddenly around people who are curious about who she is and what she can do. She’s not entirely sure about these things either.
Enter Vore, who has facial features and a physical bearing similar to Tina’s. Vore studies insect larvae and collects maggots. (Not just for the sake of collecting them, either, as we’ll soon learn.)
When Vore comes off a boat and looks Tina over, Vore grunts too, in a manner like Tina’s and makes a face that toggles between a leer and a sarcastic sneer. Tina (Eva Melander) doesn’t know what to make of Vore (Eero Milonoff). But Vore has a thorough understanding of the secrets that Vore and Tina share. Secrets that Tina’s father, who’s struggling with dementia, has withheld from her for years.
I don’t know a lot about Swedish folklore, so I was in an especially cold state as I went into this movie, written by Abbasi, Isabella Eklof and John Ajvide Lindqvist (also the writer of the 2008 film “Let the Right One In” ), from Lindqvist’s short story. As cold as possible is a good way to see it. This is a movie that aims to startle in overt and subtextual ways; the less known before viewing, the better.
In its first sequences, “Border” is shot and edited in a straightforward style that suggests a documentary. The makeup work, by a large crew, alters the appearance of Melander and Milonoff most credibly. The actors are stalwart in depicting the unusual behavior of their characters. A scene in which Vore tries to convince Tina that the maggots that seem to be the biggest part of Vore’s diet are indeed scrumptious is one of the most delightfully squirm-inducing moments here.
As the movie continues, it splits its narrative. One thread follows Tina as she helps the authorities catch the child pornographers, another shows Vore and Tina enthusiastically and sexually explicitly exploring their affinities. And here “Border,” which won the top prize in Cannes’ “Un Certain Regard” slate this year, becomes a somewhat more conventional genre film. Indeed, the final plot twist will elicit a nod from anyone conversant with 1980s Hollywood thrillers. But by this point, the movie has served up so many surprises, jumpy moments, and occasional but well-earned laughs that the familiarity is acceptable.
Border Rated R for violence, language, sexuality and themes. In Swedish, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.
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Border Reviews
…a very strange high-concept piece…tricky, dank and obscure at times, it’s dealing with real world issues through decidedly downbeat fantasy...more than oddball enough to recommend to those who seek movies well outside the mainstream…
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2024
It’s an unpredictable pathway from its opening frame to its closing credits, taking us on a journey through harrowing moments contrasted with gorgeous cinematography and immaculate direction.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 14, 2024
Melander and Milonoff are fearless actors in the way that they convey their characters’ joy and surprise in finally finding their match and being able to live fully as themselves.
Full Review | Jun 9, 2024
The mysteries of Border reveal themselves slowly from here, but each one ratchets up the film's stakes in a delightful manner.
Full Review | Jul 28, 2021
You ain't never seen nothing like it, folks. Hell you ain't never thought anything like it.
Full Review | Jul 2, 2021
A great film with a great script that question if it is necessary the social reproduction of our societies. [Full review in Spanish]
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 9, 2020
Border is without question one of the most rewarding cinematic experiences of 2018 and a film you absolutely, unequivocally will not forget about in the near future.
Full Review | Original Score: 4.0/4.0 | Sep 4, 2020
Unique format, out of the ordinary, and marvelously disturbing [Full Review in Spanish]
Full Review | Sep 1, 2020
This is fantasy romance with a snarl of misanthropy and more bite than a vampire school reunion. It needs to be seen.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 16, 2020
Wins over your heart as a 21st-century tonal poem that embraces the hybridity and plurality that radicalism seeks to thwart.
Full Review | Aug 3, 2020
Border doesn't all fit together -- it even tries too hard to fall into place at points -- but its ambition matches its heart.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 25, 2020
This Swedish film by Ali Abbasi proposes a heartbreaking radiograph on the human species. [Full review in Spanish]
Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 15, 2020
In many ways, it's the perfect genre film in its refusal to conform to any familiar tropes, instead opting to dip its misshapen form into several cinematic molds, only to shatter them.
Full Review | Jul 1, 2020
I found this compelling as I watched it, though I don't feel I gained much from the experience.
Full Review | Feb 29, 2020
The ending, surprising for its particular hopeful message, is one of the strong elements of this wild movie. [Full Review in Spanish]
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 11, 2019
In all groups there are individuals who act in ways that harm or benefit others, and this is how Border proposes itself in an intelligent and very creative way. [Full review in Spanish]
Full Review | Dec 3, 2019
Border is a fascinating movie, irresistible and intriguing because of its marginalization. [Full Review in Spanish]
Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Nov 25, 2019
This original and mercilessly intense fairy tale is simply unmissable.
Full Review | Oct 17, 2019
Abbasi, Melander, and Milonoff are not afraid to cross into bizarre territory.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 13, 2019
This is a strange, fantastic mix of romantic drama, magic realism.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 4, 2019
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