The Forgiven review [SkyShowTime] – Review in FilmTotaal

Director: John Michael McDonagh | Script: John Michael McDonagh | Cast: Ralph Fiennes (David), Jessica Chastain (Jo), Matt Smith (Richard Galloway), Marie-Josée Croze (Isabelle), Christopher Abbott (Tom Day), ea | Time to play: 117 minutes | Year: 2021

A wealthy couple, David and Jo, are invited to a huge party at a friend’s new house, a luxurious residence somewhere in the Moroccan desert. In the dark, they suddenly come across a boy and bring the body to their host, who calls the police. The next day, the boy’s father appears at the door and demands that David travel with him to his hometown deep in the desert to pay his respects and attend his funeral. David doesn’t know if he’ll make it back alive, but he leaves anyway.

By the time the boat arrives in the Moroccan town where they’ll pick up their rental car, it’s already clear from David and Jo’s bored looks that these are annoying people. Tired of the world, tired of each other. It’s no surprise, then, that her friends and the rest of the guests are such a horrible bunch, too. That continually looks down on the local Moroccan population as primitive idiots.

Actually, they are two exaggerated caricatures. The rich are all otherworldly idiots who drink and smell themselves, the Berbers are all intellectuals who speak many languages ​​and speak in deep philosophical sayings. That turns one part into criminals all too easily and the other into romanticized geniuses. Very black and white, for a film adaptation of a more open book.

The tension is there. What will happen to David? Will she get a ride to his death or his forgiveness? The father of the dead boy shows no emotion and imposes all kinds of harmful rules on him. This doesn’t bother him, leaving David as the only character with any development.

At the one-day party at the guest house, all the personalities are frozen. Things change, but in a way that fits with what the characters already were. She continues to be a bacchanalian and the staff present express their disgust to them. The property is located in a beautiful desert area next to a paradisiacal natural oasis. David’s journey through the fiery and unforgivable hell makes you feel the heat and at the same time awakens the desire to experience it for yourself.

The cast is made up of some big names who also fully get into the shoes of their characters here. Matt Smith (dr who, dragon house) is perfect as a host who likes and dislikes your visit, shouting his subtle irritation towards his partner with just one look. Jessica Chastain is very convincing as a cool frog that she’s not so outraged that her husband hit someone because she cost him a human life, but because she just wants to be mad at him.

And when Ralph Fiennes is no good? From the moment he arrives at the party, he wants to appear much more composed than he feels. This he clings to as he gets into the car to be driven into the desert by the father whose only son he killed, but his worries redouble noticeably. He is forced to casually approach the English-speaking co-pilot, hoping to find salvation in him.

the forgiven It’s a separate movie. Intriguing, but not as sharp as the creators want. It is true that hating the very rich is a fashion, but here it becomes too easy. The unusual course of the plot is the only thing that has any real power.

As if the creators know that, they add the movie to the beginning with the full opening titles and end it the old-fashioned way with ‘The End’ and nothing else. But in that sudden emptiness one would have to think about what was just shown, and the food on offer was unfortunately too meager for that.

the forgiven can be seen in SkyShowtime.