COUNTRY OF HOTELS

Cinemavixion Review

Julio Maria Martino's "Country of Hotels" (2019) offers a disquieting descent into a transient world, where the anonymity of a decaying hotel becomes a crucible for the desperate souls inhabiting room 508. The film masterfully crafts an atmosphere of surreal dread and dark comedy, drawing viewers into the lonely corridors and faded grandeur of an establishment where the mundane twists into menace. As adulterers, businessmen, and hustlers grapple with their inner demons, the hotel staff lurks just beyond earshot, an omnipresent, potentially sinister force. Martino's direction imbues everyday objects with unsettling significance: a faulty light fixture becomes a surveillance device, a heating unit whispers threats, and a television flickers with a guest's paranoid fantasies. The film's exploration of existential anxieties, particularly the fear of one's own unreality reflected in a bathroom mirror, is both chilling and thought-provoking. Despite a modest IMDb rating of 5.2, "Country of Hotels" stands as a compelling character study and a testament to the unsettling power of liminal spaces, earning its 3 wins and 1 nomination through its unique blend of psychological horror and blackly comic observation.