On the run from the police and the gang he let down following a botched robbery, twenty-one-year-old Heraldo (Iago Xavier) seeks refuge at the Motel Destino, a neon-lit roadside sex hotel on Brazil’s north-eastern coast in Karim Aïnouz’s gripping erotic thriller. The establishment is managed by the rough-edged Elias (Fábio Assunção) and his discontented younger wife, Dayana (Nataly Rocha). Frustrated with her violent husband, Dayana becomes enamoured with Heraldo; it’s not a case of whether they will give in to their carnal urges but when, and what will happen if the unpredictable Elias finds out. Together, they devise a high stakes plan for freedom. With more than one nod to The Postman Always Rings Twice, Motel Destino is an intoxicating contemporary noir with smouldering performances and a suitably lurid aesthetic.

Motel Destino contains sequences of flashing lights that may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitivities.

Notes by David O’Mahony.