Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths – Film Review

It’s been a long seven years since acclaimed director Alejandro G. Iñárritu has helmed a brand new project, leaving many to wonder when we’d see him back in the directors’ chair. But now that his new film Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths has been released on Netflix, we can all dig in.

And… wait until his next movie comes out because we’ll all be wallowing in disappointment. While not necessarily a bad movie per se, Bardo definitely won’t leave you feeling satisfied in any way. Once the end credits roll, you’ll actually end up being glad you don’t have to watch it any longer.

It’s way too long at one-hundred-and-sixty minutes and focuses way too much on strange moments instead of crafting a great, meaty story. The characters are, thankfully, quite interesting, especially our lead character Silverio Gama, portrayed masterfully by Daniel Giménez Cacho.

This is one of those rare performances that’s so strong to the point where it truly doesn’t feel as if there’s an actor doing all these scenes. It feels as if we’re actually watching the day-to-day life of Silverio, and not Cacho in front of a bunch of cameras and crew members.

It’s a majorly ambitious film – easily Iñárritu’s boldest piece of work to date – that takes a lot of humongous creative risks, with some paying off immensely and others not so much. The first act is the one that works the best out of all three here. It sets up this strange world so beautifully while also making you scratch your head.

It starts off with Silverio imagining himself jumping across a vast desert; a scene I won’t be able to shake for many, many months to come. It’s easily the most powerful shot of the entire movie and it’s certainly the scene that evokes the most emotion out of the audience.

There’s so much about this film that I disliked but there’s also so much that I did like. While Silverio’s dreamlike visions are incredibly odd and fun to watch, after a while it does become quite tedious and I found myself wondering when it would all come to an end.

Because of just how oddly written this film is, it’s safe to say that it’s also going to be Iñárritu’s most controversial and divisive film to date – yes, even more so than Birdman (which I think is a masterpiece, by the way). While Bardo certainly isn’t a bad movie, I hesitate to call it a great movie either. It’s just sort of okay. And for a seven year absence from Iñárritu only to come out with this, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed.

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths sees acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu returning to the director’s chair for an extremely strange, sometimes beautiful, and oftentimes disappointing comedy-drama.