Critics reviews

Elliptical [and] engrossing... Rodrigo Moreno’s fourth solo feature is far more intriguing than a conventional crime flick. It’s a teasing exploration of the cost of freedom and of the dualities of life

[The Delinquents] is structured and paced like an existential epic, complete with a superlatively curated soundtrack of blues, jazz and tango numbers that deepen the sense of drift... no matter how clever the movie gets, it never feels like the work of a calculating mastermind. Rather, [Moreno's] gestures towards the uncanny feel more like an olive branch extended, freely and sincerely, on behalf of a more open kind of cinema, one that prizes freedom above all else.

[The Delinquents is] a pitch-shifting and poetic odyssey where a dark Dostoyevskyian tale of crushing guilt and moral turpitude transforms into something hopeful and strangely ebullient... This is a very funny film, yet the humour doesn’t ever come from jokes or contrived set-ups.

Confounding twists and turns abound... [while] mind games complement the double-jobbing actors in this unhurried Strangers on a Train-adjacent yarn... With a journey this epic, who cares about the destination?

The theme of sad sacks finding some sort of potential good life could be the stuff of rueful comedy, but director Moreno injects a real melancholy into proceedings with some arrestingly lyrical passages, while the leads convey an appealing vulnerability as they ponder paths not taken.

The Delinquents is about the quest rather than the destination... As we watch Morán riding Mancha away through lush grasslands washed by the russet light of the setting sun, with ranges of hills rolling away in shades of purple, we may even feel inclined to saddle up and follow suit.

Effortlessly charming and more than a little generous with its asides, The Delinquents is a film that lays out surprises and delights like a lavish feast – although it’s no surprise for those who’ve been paying attention.

What began as a shaggily low-stakes heist thriller before morphing into a grotty prison movie has now become an idyllic, sun-drenched landscape epic.

Moreno’s patient screenplay tends to ramble while juggling its various subplots, but the film’s subtle twists add layers of intrigue.

It’s being promoted as a “heist film,” which is sort of true… to a point. But by the end of its nearly 190 minutes, you’re less sure than ever just how to classify a somewhat mystifying, deadpan shaggy dog story roughly comparable to the playful screen enigmas once crafted by Jacques Rivette and Raoul Ruiz.

Leisurely paced, thoroughly if not relentlessly deadpan, and quietly contemplative to the point of gentle sleepiness, Moreno’s production is a challenging yet decidedly alive thing. Film ain’t dead – not for those willing to pay close and patient attention.

The Delinquents works its magic on us the way that the promise of freedom works on its characters. It’s a vision of a life unlived — as impossible as it is intoxicating.