Exotica Details

Prying behind the façade of the respectable is director Atom Egoyan's stock-in-trade. In this pulsating study of need, isolation and fantasy, he effortlessly slips between past and present to create myriad plot strands that he finally ties together with a mastery few can match. The scenes within the strip club of the title drip with erotic tension, reinforced by the sinister DJ-ing of Elias Koteas, the seductive dancing of Mia Kirshner and the disturbing willingness of auditor Bruce Greenwood to succumb to her charms. Add in a smuggling operation centred on a pet shop and you have a truly provocative movie.

Characteristically stylish, intriguing film from Atom Egoyan, heavy on the eroticism and mystification as it delves... read more on Time Out