Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
Political repression and fetishistic obsession combine to chilling effect in this Chilean drama, set in Santiago at the height of Pinochet’s brutal regime.
The year is 1978 and the city’s populace is living in fear of the secret police, who routinely hunt down anti-government dissidents, intellectuals and other undesirables. One man, though, has something else on his mind: the titular Tony Manero, John Travolta’s character from Saturday Night Fever.
At first glance, the pallid, ageing Raul (Alfredo Castro) couldn’t be more removed from Travolta’s struggling New York hoofer. Yet that doesn’t stop him watching the film over and over again so he can replicate Manero’s moves every week with the small group of dancers he leads, or using underhand methods to construct a replica of the iconic neon dancefloor on which his hero struts his stuff.
His mania cranks up a notch when the state broadcaster announces a lookalike contest for white-suited wannabes. Just how far will he go to realise his crazy dream of recreating himself in Tony’s image?
As twisted an indie as was ever projected on a UK screen, Pablo Larrain’s movie has high-minded ideas underpinning its weird scenario. Just as Chile itself was corrupted by a CIAbacked coup, so its people are shown to be under the spell of an imported alien culture – Raul’s mission to mirror Travolta’s cool becoming symptomatic of a society that, having been robbed of its identity, now seeks refuge in fantasy, denial and escapism.
Yet there’s also a jet-black humour to this absurd premise, typified by the scene where Castro sabotages a rival ‘Tony’ by defecating on his outfit. If the context feels a touch remote, audiences can at least latch on to this – Raul’s delusion being shared by every X-Factor expendable who ever stood in line for their microsecond of fame.
Neil Smith
After 4 years, Tom Hardy’s long-awaited Netflix action thriller finally gets a first look and release date
Zelda cosplayer struggling with "impossible" Link design flaw finds solution after Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai steps in to help
After 7 years, a forgotten Team Fortress 2 taunt is in the spotlight as the ultimate meme expression of FPS dominance: "You either Yeti cancel or the Yeti cancels you"
