Exotica (1994)

One of the best movies I've ever seen. This film is what movies should always be about - making people think about how they think, their preconceptions and prejudices.

The film seems to have been marketed as a borderline porn film, and although it has a single scene of partial nudity, that is by no means what it's about. The actors give wonderful performances and the director does a great job of crafting a thoughtful and thought-provoking masterpiece.

I'm not going to say more about the storyline because if too much is given away you won't get those moments of revelation. Just go out and rent or buy this masterpiece of cinema.

Fmovies: I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said. "Exotica" is a great example of a movie that works with a budget limit and comes off better than all of these multi-million dollar Hollywood FX-bonanza's. An intricate and refreshing story where you get to know the characters piece by piece. The movie requires patience in the early stages, but once it clicks, there's no looking back. A masterpiece of a movie.

When you first look at the VHS box for this movie, it looks like a slightly upscale version of Showgirl. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a sad, painful, mysterious movie that explores human relationships in a very unusual way. Yes, lots of it takes place at a strip club,but it's not very sexy or explicit.

You have to pay careful attention to this movie. It bounces around in time, and all the threads of the plot don't come totally together until the very last moment of the movie. But it has a devastating and gripping payoff. ONLY FOR INTELLIGENT MOVIE GOERS. It's a tough movie, kinda slow, but it is unusual, inventive and in my opinion, very satisfying.

Also recommend THE SWEET HEREAFTER, directed by Atom Egoyan as well. Same fractured structure and sense of sadness. But beautiful.

Exotica fmovies. With a cast of familiar faces this thriller/drama goes nowhere fast in fact I'm not sure it goes anywhere at all. Lifeless, dull, ridiculously ungripping and considering half the film is set in a strip joint not even visually appealing! The last time I was this bored watching a film it was the critically acclaimed Inception (2010) the film that bred a new type of pseudo intellectual movie fan with the moniker of "If you don't like it you didn't understand it" Well I understood that over-convoluted mess and I still didn't like it.

Exotica brings nothing to the table, not even a young Mia Kirchner stripping in a school girl outfit could turn this embarrassment around.

I first became aware of Atom Egoyans work after watching "Felicias Journey" on television. This was an unusual film in that I was not sure whether I was enjoying it or not, but equally could not have switched it off. It was only when I found myself thinking about the film some days later that I realised what an excellent piece of cinema I had witnessed. Through IMDb I checked for other work by this director & came across "The Sweet Hereafter". I quickly obtained a copy, and whilst watching it became spellbound by its slow burning intensity and the excellent performances of Bruce Greenwood, Ian Holm & the wonderful Sarah Polley.

I needed to see more, and bought a copy of "Exotica". This film is an absolute masterpiece. Again, like "Sweet Hereafter" it has a slow burning quality,accentuated by the repetitive nature of the lives of the main characters. Excellent performances from Bruce Greenwood, probably one of the most underrated & understated actors of his generation, Sarah Polley, Elias Koteas and the beautiful Mia Kirshner. As you watch this film, you wonder how the lives of these characters will eventually impact on each other, and your mind searches for possible explanations. When this explanation arrives, it hits you like a tidal wave, washing away any doubts that you may have had about the quality of Egoyans storytelling.

After gorging myself on a surfeit of summer blockbusters, which although enjoyable at the time, like a Chinese meal, leave you empty again some few hours later, I needed nourishment for my mind as well as my eyes. The discovery of the genius of Atom Egoyan has provided this spiritual feeding.

Perhaps Atom Egoyan's most successful film. Egoyan's technique is to fracture a story like a jigsaw puzzle, giving the viewer bits and pieces which only all connect in the final scene. That ripping apart of reality is especially appropriate here, since the movie is about people putting their lives together after terrible trauma. It's also about the danger in leaping to conclusions - the viewer is often tempted to make a judgement about what he or she sees, and that judgement is often both wrong and unfair. If this all sounds like homework, be assured that the movie is also a lot of fun: it's sexy and interesting and inspired.