STARS AT NOON
A dissolute young American journalist (Margaret Qualley) and an English businessman (Joe Alwyn) with ties to the oil industry meet by chance while on
different, mysterious assignments in modern-day Nicaragua. The two tumble into
a whirlwind romance despite knowing little about each other’s true professional
identities—all while abstract forces close in on them as they desperately try
to book it out of a country that won’t seem to let them leave. Stars at Noon, based on the 1986 novel
by Denis Johnson, represents a new mode for director Claire Denis, a contemporary thriller suffused with political
intrigue and languid eroticism, moving entirely to the tactile rhythms of its
actors, especially rising star Qualley, who gives a live-wire performance of
fervid spontaneity and mercurial passion. Winner of the Grand Prix at this
year’s Cannes Film Festival. (France/Panama/US,
2022, 135min., English/French, R | Dir. Claire Denis)