Spoiler-Free Reviews: “Beacon” and “A Family Guide to Hunting” (Tribeca Festival 2024)
Beacon (U.S., 2024) Last year, Tribeca gave the world a top-notch tale of two strangers, a man and a woman, stuck in an isolated location with a suspenseful mystery about who might be dangerous to the other with You’ll Never Find Me. This year, the fest serves up another such pressure cooker with director Roxy Shih’s Beacon. Emily (Julia Goldani Telles), a young woman who comes from a family with a love for sailing, sets off to circumnavigate the globe, but fate in the way of a huge storm strands her at a remote lighthouse. Ismael (Demián Bichir), the lone lighthouse keeper, attempts to help the injured Emily, who is naturally suspicious of him. Questions surrounding Ismael’s ability to communicate with the outside world and his obsession with the mythological creature known as the siren complicate matters further. Shih, working from a screenplay by Julio Rojas, paces the drama and suspense wonderfully. The main drawing point of the film for
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