Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.


One of the most prolific auteur filmmakers of Canada, the Cairo-born Atom Egoyan has made some of the most provocative films in the past fifteen years with such films as “The Adjuster”, “Calendar”, “Family Viewing”, “Felicia’s Journey”, “Speaking Parts” and his most accomplished film work to date, 1997's “The Sweet Hereafter” where received two Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director. Egoyan’s films are often filled with puzzling subplots and storylines that slowly entrances the audiences as they put the pieces together and see what happens at the end. Egoyan often uses that context for films about families, culture, ethnicity, and sex. In 1994, Egoyan explores voyeurism much further than ever in a harrowing, provocative sex drama about a tax inspector who is haunted by a young stripper as he tries to figure out what went wrong with his life. Written and directed by Atom Egoyan, the film’s eerie; intimate film of voyeurism is entitled “Exotica”.

“Exotica” at first might seem like a film title for soft-core sex films or a porno film. “Exotica” is anything but those types of films. Instead, Egoyan’s film is really a puzzle in its own right as Egoyan takes the audience into the world of voyeurism and intrigue. The film also includes various subplots of longing and family as well as a gay pet shop owner smuggling eggs into Canada. Yet, the subplots come together for a shocking ending as the audience is forced to look back at all the pieces of the puzzle. With a cast that includes frequent Egoyan regulars like wife/muse Arsinee Khanjian, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Sarah Polley, and Don McKellar along with veteran Victor Garber and then-newcomer Mia Kirshner. “Exotica” is an intriguing, sensual masterpiece of obsession and heartbreak.

The film begins as a gay pet shop owner named Thomas (Don McKellar) is getting his bags checked as custom agents are looking through a window as one of them (Calvin Green) is watching carefully. Thomas doesn’t know he was watched as he past the inspection and shared a cab with a man (Peter Krantz) who gives him ballet tickets. After the man in a cab stopped across from a strip club called Exotica, a young woman named Christina (Mia Kirshner) enters the club ready to get to work as she meets up with her pregnant club owner Zoe (Arsinee Khanjian) and hear the calls of her DJ-boyfriend Eric (Elias Koteas). Eric makes all these comments about all the strippers and telling all the patrons that it only takes $5 to have the ladies dance for you as he begins to introduce Christina as “jailbait” as she dances provocatively to Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” while wearing a school uniform showing her underwear as a man named Francis (Bruce Greenwood) was watching.

Thomas meanwhile returns home where he takes out what he was hiding which turned out to be exotic bird eggs. He then decides to go to the ballet where he encounters a scalper (Jack Blum) as he gives him some money and just leave for the night. Christina meanwhile is dancing for Francis as Eric is watching wondering what’s the relationship between those two as Zoe is bothered by a few of his comments and his distraction. Francis goes to the bathroom feeling tortured as a memory of a woman and her daughter playing piano that he’s videotaping is in his head. He leaves the club as decides to pick up his niece Tracey (Sarah Polley) from his house and drop her off at her ghetto-area apartment where his wheelchair-bound brother Harold (Victor Garber) lives. Zoe then notices the tension between Christina and Eric as she kind of felt it was her fault since she is carrying Eric’s child as Eric reminisces the day he met Christina at a search party.

One day as Thomas was working at his pet store; Francis comes in to work on some taxes for him as he decides to look into his financial records. Thomas is worried as Francis finds a gun in the office and tells Thomas that he’ll come back on Monday to finish the paperwork for the audit. Christina and Zoe talk about the club as Zoe is wondering what is wrong with her and Eric as Christina looks on and admits she feels a bit violated when she is stripping in front of people, especially Eric who looks behind the mirrors. Eric meanwhile, looks back at how his relationship with Christina started out very innocently as he wonders what’s her connection with Francis.

Francis then meets with Harold as he’s about to pick up Tracey to baby-sit but with no one to really baby-sit as she practices to play piano and flute at his house. Francis returns to Exotica as Eric wonders about the connection between the two more than ever while Thomas encounters another scalper and watches ballet with him. When Francis returns to pick up Tracey, she wonders why she has to be at his house other than just practice her instruments. After another visit, she knows that his daughter had died, as she felt more uncomfortable house-sitting as she tells her father she doesn’t want to go to his anymore, even if he pays her more. Harold admits, it’s very uncomforting and understands if she doesn’t want to go, since he feels responsible for what happened to Francis as well.

Francis meanwhile, is more tortured than ever when he’s in Exotica as he is in the bathroom where Eric in a fake accent coaxes him to touch Christina during her lap dance (a rule you cannot do at strip clubs). Francis does and gets in trouble as Eric kicks him out of the club. Zoe wonders what just happens as she talks to both of them as Christina felt someone had told him to touch her while Eric felt he had to protect her. On that same night, Thomas encounters another scalper as he goes to his apartment and makes out only to learn that that guy who is the customs agent stole his eggs. Francis goes to see Thomas at the pet store as he reveals that he is willing to help clear his financial trouble and not get in trouble if he goes to Exotica for him.

Thomas enters the club to talk to Christina as she dances for him as he asks about Francis. She tells him about Francis and reveals who she is and why he comes to the club. Francis meanwhile is listening through a wire that Thomas is wearing as he is forced to endure the painful memory of his daughter’s murder that he was suspected by cleared of and later, the death of his wife in a car accident. Thomas goes to the bathroom as Eric talks to him as Francis tries to re-enter the club but he instead talks to Zoe, who understood that he got set up but she couldn’t let him back in since the club is here to entertain, not heal any wounds. Later that night, Zoe felt Eric went too far with the comments and his emotional troubles with Christina as the two were starting to fall apart and Eric felt largely responsible. Francis wants Thomas to return so he can kill Eric as Thomas does on the instructions of Francis, as well as to touch Christina, while Eric reveals to Francis something that puts everything together.

The complexity behind Egoyan’s story is filled with riddles and ambiguities that keep the audience guessing. While at times the film flashes back a bit, Egoyan makes sure its linear to the story without making it inconsistent or uneven. The strength of the film isn’t just in Egoyan’s emotional script that is filled harrowing moments and intrigue but in his subtle direction. When Egoyan directs, he at least gives the audience a chance to peel layers of these characters and see the lost innocence of the individuals while he doesn’t present easy answers for many questions, notably the film’s ending that is nothing but shocking but with a sense of sadness. While it is a sex film, it’s not in the shocking realm of “Crash”, “Y Tu Mama Tambien”, “Secretary” or other noted indie-sex classics. Instead, it stands out in its intimacy and emotional intensity while showing a good amount of nudity without revealing too much. Instead of being shocking, the sex plays up from a more mysterious standpoint and a sensuality that is just subtle.

If Egoyan’s direction and script is complex, then the film’s look serves as a level of intimacy and intrigue with its exotic look. Notably the strip club of Exotica with its blue-green look is shot at an entrancing tone by longtime Egoyan cinematographer Paul Sarossy. Sarrossy’s cinematography also shines in the flashback scenes of Christina/Eric’s first meeting in the Canadian fields where the tone looked peaceful while everything else seems amiss. The look of the strip club is done wonderfully with its fountains, jungle-like look and subtle tone from production designers Linda Del Rosario and Richard Paris while costume designer Linda Muir does a great job in making Mia Kirshner look like a jailbait young girl with the schoolgirl uniform. Then there’s the film haunting, Armenian (Egoyan and Khanjian’s ethnic background) score by another longtime Egoyan collaborator Mychael Danna. Danna’s score is filled with elements of melancholia and intrigue with its droning strings and piano scores while music supervisor Ross Redfern brings an evocative, trance-like music for the strip club, notably the use of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” that is always used in a seductive, provocative tone.

Finally, there’s the film’s inspiring cast with its group of small characters like the custom agent and taxi passenger to its more-known leading cast. While Victor Garber’s role of Harold is small, Garber brings an excellent performance that provides reason for Greenwood’s tortured character as he reveals the tension between him and his brother. Sarah Polley (in post-“Avonlea”/pre-indie starlet) is lovely as the wise niece who feels uncomfortable in her uncle’s house as she plays the role in a quiet performance as a teenager. This role would help land Polley a starring role in Egoyan’s “The Sweet Hereafter” which would be her indie breakthrough. Arsinee Khanjian is amazing as the film’s moralistic character as she tries to keep everything together for her club and her patrons as she investigates the relationship between Eric and Christina. Khanjian plays up to her frustration of her character, notably being a pregnant woman (in which she really was) as she plays the role with ease and emotional intensity.

Don McKellar’s role as the ambiguous Thomas is performed at an immense restraint and intrigue. McKellar doesn’t do any theatrics and just plays the role very quietly and mysteriously as he questions the world of sex and intrigue for this tortured man. Mia Kirshner is amazing as Christina with her lost innocence and sympathetic tone as we see a young woman who is revealing her sole through her dance and stripping while she brings out strong emotional moments in her scenes with Koteas and Khanjian. Kirshner, whose career had slowed down until the critically acclaimed Showtime series “The L Word”, is a very underrated actress who doesn’t get a lot of the credit she deserves, especially for this ominous performance. Elias Koteas is wonderful as Eric by playing the role in a subtle, comical tone when he’s the DJ while being sensitive in the flashback scenes with Kirshner. Koteas definitely gives another great performance that just keeps on getting more interesting to watch in this uneasy role. Bruce Greenwood is the film’s best performance as the tortured Francis as we see Greenwood play the role in a sad, sympathetic way while we see that he too is lost, notably in his innocence after the death of his daughter. It’s by far his one of his best performances to date.

While “Exotica” isn’t a film for more mainstream film fans who just wants to see loads of nudity, the film is an intriguing one that keeps on getting better with each viewing. With its inspired cast and Egoyan’s masterful direction, “Exotica” is film that reveals everything without giving away too much, especially on the sex. Fans of indie-sex films will no doubt consider this essential but unlike most sex films, it’s a very provocative and psychological film that plays well to its sensual, restrained drama. For anyone who likes a good puzzle with a bit of sex and voyeurism will find Atom Egoyan’s “Exotica” a joy to watch in its intrigue and subtlety.

Indie-Sex Film Reviews:

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990):

(Coming in March)

Spanking the Monkey (1994):

http://www.epinions.com/content_109745180292

Kissed (1996):

http://www.epinions.com/content_111177797252

Crash (1996):

http://www.epinions.com/content_115357290116

In the Company of Men (1997):

http://www.epinions.com/content_129008635524

Happiness (1998):

http://www.epinions.com/content_115016306308

In the Center of the World (2001):

http://www.epinions.com/content_110356958852

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001):

http://www.epinions.com/content_118471757444

Secretary (2002):

http://www.epinions.com/content_101047570052



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age