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Winning an all-expenses-paid trip for two to an idyllic beach resort hardly seems cause for a downer.

But in Mexican director Ernesto Contreras’ sparse, offbeat debut it merely increases mousy factory worker Marina’s (Cecilia Suárez) solitude as she has no one to take... until she runs into long-forgotten schoolmate Victor (Enrique Arreola) and in desperation invites him along.

A predictable romcom ending would be too upbeat for this bleak riff on loneliness and the delusions of fantasy.

Any moments of humour barely lift the melancholy mood, underscored by emotive music and a desolate subplot about a sad old woman surrounded by caged birds.

Carmen Gray

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.