“[A]rguably no other movie has woven so many arresting, initially inexplicable strands into such a richly satisfying narrative tapestry. But that sort of gamesmanship, however brilliant, doesn’t explain the full-body chill I still get from the final shot, 18 years and at least five viewings later… Only cinema can create an effect like this—any attempt to put the shot’s troubling implication into words would render it instantly banal… There might be four or five movies I love more than this one. There might be fewer.” – Mike D’Angelo

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. A coterie of lost souls—including a man haunted by grief, a young woman with whom he shares an enigmatic bond, an obsessive emcee, and a smuggler of rare bird eggs—circles around the neon-drenched Toronto strip club of the film’s title, a dreamlike locale where strippers dance hauntingly to the morose Casio-lounge strains of Leonard Cohen. With an everyone-is-connected plot reminiscent of (though much more satisfying than) films like Babel and Crash, EXOTICA is, as Roger Ebert called it, “a movie labyrinth, winding seductively into the darkest secrets of a group of people who should have no connection with one another, but do.” These characters’ mysteriously interconnected histories form an obsessive cycle of sex, pain, jealousy, and catharsis. The full emotional impact of the film’s puzzle-like construction doesn’t hit until the last piece is in place, in the film’s immortal final shot.

A pre-show featuring concert clips and music videos of late, great Canuck, Leonard Cohen will start at 6:30 pm.

TᕼIᔕ ᖴIᒪᗰ Iᔕ ᔕᑕᖇEEᑎIᑎG ᗩᔕ ᑭᗩᖇT Oᖴ ᗩᖇKᗩᗪIᑎ’ᔕ ᗯEIᖇᗪ ᑕᗩᑎᗩᗪᗩ ᔕEᖇIEᔕ, ᖴEᗩTᑌᖇIᑎG OᖴᖴᗷEᗩT, ᗰᗩᑭᒪE-ᗪᖇEᑎᑕᕼEᗪ ᗪEᒪIGᕼTᔕ ᖴᖇOᗰ TᕼE GᖇEᗩT ᗯᕼITE ᑎOᖇTᕼ.

Arkadin does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. However, we encourage researching titles to determine if a screening may contain content that could be upsetting to you. Please feel free to contact us for guidance on specific films. Information about content can also be found on Common Sense Media, IMDB and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.