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One night, the arrival of a young Herald changes the daily life of this place forever

Scenario

Motel Destino is the scene of dangerous games of desire, power and violence under a burning sky on the roadside on the coast of Ceará. Karim Aïnouz’s sixth film to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, following Madam Satã (2002), O Abismo Prateado (2011), Nevidljivi život Eurídice Gusmão (2019), Marinheiro das Montanhas (2021) and Firebrand (2023). Directed by Karim Aïnouz, the film offers a mixture of desire, love and crime in the story of how a young Heraldo finds refuge in a motel.

Motel Destino, Portuguese for destiny, is the sex motel where Heraldo, Dayana and Elias will live

near the beach, where he is soon plunged into unexpected situations where erotic and power tensions emerge as he hides from the gangsters following him. paths cross. This is a film about what fate has in store for these characters who seem to defy their fate time and time again.

The actors do a great job of contributing to the tension between them

Motel owners Dayana and Elias in Heraldo not only find a boy they like and want to help, but also a seed that will blossom into unexpected challenges in their lives. The looks that say more than enough to explain the intentions of their wearer are physical manifestations of said tension. Sometimes they are the fruits of desire and sometimes jealousy, but they are always there and ready to show what they feel.

The film’s cinematography continually reinforces the location and surrounding elements of Motel Destin

Beaches, palm trees, sand, pools, a light color palette, elements that convey hot summer days where desire blooms. A desire that also manifests itself in their bodies, especially naked, channeling doses of eroticism that need to be released, but also of immanent vulnerability. As the day ends and night takes its place, the location conveys the looming dangers of a motel relationship.

A film about emancipation from what we know shapes our daily lives

The dimly lit highways, the neon lights of the motel and the secrets of its walls open the door to dangerous journeys ready to fulfill themselves. Within the walls of Motel Destin, the hallways grow larger not just for desire, for carnal desire in its purest form, but also for a better life, far from what defines us.