Director: Delgerbayar Purevdorj
Year: 2018
Country: Mongolia
Alternate Titles: The Gladiolus, Ild Tsetseg
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Plot:
Attempting to get by in the world, a private school principal tries to help her daughter get away from her troublesome boyfriend only to accidentally kill him instead, and when the detective investigating the incident gets wind of his degenerate condition instead decides to help conceal the crime.
Review:
While there are some limitations here, this one does come off with some nice ideas. One of the major factors in this one is the way this one goes about offering a localized version of attempting to execute the perfect crime. It's a simplistic enough trope that provides this with an opportunity to tell a story centered for its local audience that will also have international appeal. This takes care of providing a detailed rationale and motivation for what's going on as the first half of the film details the setup of their relationship so that the actual incident itself rings far more impactfully. With us fully aware of everything going on in short fashion, from the fractured family life and the sons' troubles to her being out with him, we get a clear understanding is this world rather quickly and easily.
That makes the inadvertent death all that much more interesting. Coming across as a genuine accident as he clearly is the aggressor in their confrontation and it being pure self-defense, the emotional impact of killing someone else registers and the race to dispose of the body leads her on a frantic and realistic race. Taking her into the desert to bury his body where a series of coincidences leads into the nomadic family that care for her, she is able to seemingly get away with the crime and is able to return to the teaching job obviously affected by the incident. As this runs concurrent to the investigation into the incidents, ranging from the security camera footage to the rounds of questioning which brings him around to finally uncovering the truth. As the final half features the two coming together to get away with the incident and the remorse shown to hopefully come through in the end while still managing to successfully outmaneuver the policeman, this all ends on a rather satisfying and somber note.
Still, there are several issues with the film. One of the issues is the lapse of common sense and logic that transpires here. There's never any real connection offered here as to how she became ill after the realization of the first murder, leaving the entire purpose of her connection with the case in somewhat curious fashion. Being in the car and awaiting for the authorities to get to her when she falls out is a rather important decision to cause her as that brings them into contact with each other. As well, the overreaching idea of a cop sworn to uphold the law to go willingly into helping commit a crime, especially when he has her guilty through the investigation leaves quite a curious mark. With a somewhat leaden pace that never descends into boredom but slowly if aimlessly marches forward with a straightforward tempo can be a slight problem to overcome as this one doesn't go for the type of frantic action a scenario like this usually produces in other entries and could be problematic. Still, there isn't much else really wrong here.
Overview: ***/5
Being a rather enjoyable thriller effort that has some interesting elements as well as some minor flaws, there's enough to like here without being a really standout entry in the genre. This is a fine effort for those looking to dive into the country's genre output or even viewers who are willing to give this kind of film a chance, while only those unwilling to look at this one for its positives should heed caution.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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