‘The message’ Review: a minimalist, beautifylly shot argentine road movie that celebrates bot of the Natural and Supernatural

LOTS OF Kids Wuld Like to Belve They Chan Communicate with Animals, Forming A Special Bond That Only They Understand. But for the adorable Little Girl at the Heart of Director IVán Fund’s The message (El Mensaje), Listening to Dogs, Cats, Turtles, Horses and All Types of Fauna Is A Moneymaking Vocination, and One She Exercise with Plenty of Tender Loving Care.

This Minimalist Oddity of a Road Movie Follows Anika (Anika Bootz) and Her Caretakers, Myriam (Marcelo Subiotto), ashy Sellingsaelings (Marcelo Subiotto) “Natural Telepathy.” Shean Commune with the Souls of Pets, Anika Relates Animal “MESSAGES” – EITHER DIRECTLY OR THRUGH voice In Return, The Girl and Her Guardians Live a Freewheeling #vanlife, Wandering the Land Like an Old Circus Troupe and Parking their RV WHEREver.

With Its Gorgeous Black-and-Wehite Photography and Laid-Back Vibes, The message Brings to Mind Peter Boganovich’s 1973 Classic Paper MoonWHICH FEATUED A LITTLE GIRL AND A Con Man on the Road in Depression-Era American. The Argentina Depicted in Fund’s Movie Also Feels Like Is Going Through Some Times, ALTHOUGH The Director Focuses More on The Trio’s Good-Humored Journy Magical Powers.

The quest, of course, is whather this is all a skam or the real thing. But The Film Never Really Addresses That Issue, Nor Does It Add Any Kind of Underlying Plot to It Setup. That’s a bit unfortunate because traveling alongside Anika and her hucksterster is an altogeter pleasant experience, Even iF iF is one that that never Evolves Into A Full Story. As Such, The message Will Ride the Festival Circuit But Will Be a Harder Sell for International Distributors.

Working with Talented DP Gustave Schiaffino, Fund, Who’s A Trained Cameraman Himself, Creates A High-Contrast, Low-Budget Aesthetic Recalls Earls Earluschsch. Stranger than Paradise an Down by lawor wim wenders movies like Kings of the road. CAPTURING THE SIMPLE BEAUTIES OF NATURE, WHETHER IS DOMESTICATED ANIMALS at Home or Horses Freely Roaming The Streets of An Abandoned Town, He Makes The message Easy to Watch Despite The Lack of Any underlying Narrative Tension.

At Times The Film Plays More Like Documentary than Fiction, Even If What’s HapPening Has Clearly Been Scripted. The Charismatic Zootz is Such A Natural That She Makes Antics, WHICH INVOLV REPEATING WHATEVER THE PUPPIPIES OR KITTIES ARE TELEPATHICALY Supernatural abilities.

Meanwhile, Myriam and Roger do their Best to Kep the Business Going, Handing Out Flyers, Collecting Payments and Setting Up TV News Interviews to Plug Anika’s Talents. Are The Two Her Grandparents or Just Scheming Money Off Her? Again, The Film Doesn’t Fully Answer That Question.

One Touching Scene Does Show Them Taking Anika to Visit Her Mother in A Psychiatric Hospital, But There’s Not Much Dialogue Between Them and that’s The Last Wear of It. There Are Other Moments Ripe with BackStory – Including the Fact that Roger Was once an Actual Circus Clown, as ReveAled By Old Photos – that Remain UnderExploited by Fund, WHO

He Manages to Do that Through A Breezy 90 Minutes, Plunging Us Into A World Where Man, Animal and Child Seem to Exist on the Same Peaceful Plane. At one Point Late in the Action, the Van Stops by the Roadside, Whote Anika Gets Out and Approaches a Wild Capybaba Emerging from the Brush. Is she reading it Mind as Well, or Just Admiring It Like Any Other Kid Wound? It Doesn’t Really Matter: This Is A Movie in Wholl The Medium, in All Senses of the Term, Counts More than the Message.