Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE VISITOR [Tribeca Film Festival 2022 - Virtual]

The context of loss and redemption is not a new concept but different people handle different situations in certain ways. With "The Visitor" [International Narrative Competition], the focus is on a man, newly released from prison because of an unnamed (but inferred)tragedy that requires him to re-earn trust and finding his footing to spend time with his daughter. His daughter is being cared for by his mother-in-law and father-in-law which means things went definitely south since the mother of his child is nowhere to be found. Humberto (Enrique Aráoz) seems a nice enough guy per se. He is just trying to get by but he knows how to run a certain type of business (selling cell phone cards on the sly).What is interesting in the context of the story is that his father-in-law is a pastor who tries to place himself on a pedestal by keying into people's wants but completely subjugates his son-in-law (with good reason but with a misplaced sense of ego).

The father-in-law is not a bad person but he is using his pedestal to look down on someone else and in a way showing his dishonesty as well. The irony has been addressed in films before in films from South American countries because religion is such an integrated way of life that it can be skewed. This also is a repercussion of some of the living conditions in certain areas in that people turn to God to explain perhaps aspects of their lives or what is going on around them that they can't control. Humberto loves his daughter but he is stacked against a system that accuses him of his demons without examining its own. The take away and the resolution is understandable because his daughter, while with attributes from her mother's side, is also alot like her father and has the ability to understand her own decisions even though the flock wants her to stay the path. B-

By Tim Wassberg