Upon Entry (released as Upon Entry (La llegada) in Spain) is a 2022 Spanish drama film directed by Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez (in their directorial debut feature). It stars Alberto Ammann and Bruna Cusí alongside Ben Temple and Laura Gómez.
Plot
The plot concerns the unpleasant vetting and questioning procedures that the couple Diego (a Venezuelan urbanist) and Elena (a contemporary dancer from Barcelona) suffers at the Newark Airport upon moving from Barcelona to the United States to start off a new life.[1][2]
Written and directed by Venezuelan filmmakers Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez, Upon Entry is based on the helmers' personal experiences as immigrants.[2] The film is a Spanish co-production by Zabriskie Films, Basque Films, and Sygnatia, with the participation of TV3, and the support from ICEC [ca], the Madrid regional administration, the Basque Government and Creative Europe's MEDIA.[1][4]
Charades closed distribution deals in Italy (Exit Media), Japan (Shochiku), Portugal (Alambique), India (PictureWorks), CIS (Pionier), and France (Condor Distribution).[7]
Reception
According to the American review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Upon Entry has a 100% approval rating based on 12 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.9/10.[8]
Júlia Olmo of Cineuropa assessed that despite the film seemingly touching towards its end upon the clichés it managed to steer clear of before, it "manages to be an enjoyable film", "to achieve its verisimilitude and to make us forget for a while" "that we are watching a fictional film".[4]
Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily considered that the film "plays out in that grey zone where legitimate questioning ends and the state torture manual begins", pointing out how generating "so much drama from what is basically 74 minutes of people talking across a table at one another is very clever film making indeed".[3]
Jordi Batlle Caminal of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, highlighting the entire cast as the best thing about the film.[9]
Top ten lists
The film appeared on a number of critics' top ten lists of the best Spanish films of 2023:
