#1150: EGOYAN, Atom: Exotica (1994)

EGOYAN, Atom (Canada)
Exotica [1994]

Spine #1150

Blu-ray

One of the defining independent films of the 1990s, Atom Egoyan’s mesmerizing international breakthrough Exotica takes the conventions of the psychological thriller into bold new territory—unsettling, dreamlike, and empathetic. At the neon-drenched Toronto strip club of the film’s title, a coterie of lost and damaged souls—including a man haunted by grief (Bruce Greenwood), a young woman with whom he shares an enigmatic bond (Mia Kirshner), an obsessive emcee (Elias Koteas), and a smuggler of rare bird eggs (Don McKellar)—search for redemption as they work through the traumas of their mysteriously interconnected histories in an obsessive cycle of sex, pain, jealousy, and catharsis. Masterfully weaving together past and present, Egoyan constructs a spellbinding narrative puzzle, the full emotional impact of which doesn’t hit until the last piece is in place.

103 minutes
Color
2.0 Surround
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2022

Director/Writers

Atom Egoyan was 34 when he wrote and directed Exotica.

The Film

a

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by author and filmmaker Jason Wood.

Commentary

Featuring Egoyan and composer Mychael Danna.

Conversation

Between Egoyan and filmmaker and actor Sarah Polley.

1993 feature film

Calendar by Egoyan, with introduction.

1981 short film

En passant, a Peep Show by Egoyan featuring Maury Chaykin and Arsinée Khanjian.

Audio

From Exotica’s 1994 Cannes press conference, featuring Egoyan, Khanjian, Greenwood, and producer Camelia Frieberg.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

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