Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994)

Atom Egoyan | 1994 | Canada | 104’ | English, no subtitles

Exotica is the enigmatic and imaginative work by Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, a real cult classic. With a story revolving around a strip club—a location that is, of course, entirely premised on sexualized transactions (though, interestingly, in this film the sex is not explicit)—the film slowly reveals the unexpected interconnections among several characters whose lives converge at the club. Though the currency of sex and desire is ever present, it becomes clear, as the film unfolds, that what truly links these people is trauma and grief—that a need to fill the void for something lost, a relationship or connection that is no longer available, drives nearly every interaction on-screen. The film has no chronological order, exudes a mysterious charged atmosphere and has a surprising climax.

Exotica is a movie labyrinth, winding seductively into the darkest secrets of a group of people who should have no connection with one another, but do. At the beginning, the film seems to be about randomly selected strangers. By the end, it is revealed that these people are so tightly wound up together that if you took one away, their world would collapse. — Roger Ebert