Identifying Features

Name: Identifying Features
Genre: Drama
Released: January 22, 2021
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 85
Cast: David Illescas, Juan Jesús Varela, Mercedes Hernández

2021

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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Identifying Features (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Kino Lorber | Release Date: January 22, 2021 | Not Rated

Starring: David Illescas, Juan Jesús Varela, Mercedes Hernández

Summary: Middle-aged Magdalena (Mercedes Hernandez) has lost contact with her son after he took off with a friend from their town of Guanajuato to cross the border into the U.S., hopeful to find work. Desperate to find out what happened to him—and to know whether or not he’s even alive—she embarks on an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerousMiddle-aged Magdalena (Mercedes Hernandez) has lost contact with her son after he took off with a friend from their town of Guanajuato to cross the border into the U.S., hopeful to find work. Desperate to find out what happened to him—and to know whether or not he’s even alive—she embarks on an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous journey to discover the truth. At the same time, a young man named Miguel (David Illescas) has returned to Mexico after being deported from the U.S., and eventually his path converges with Magdalena’s.… Expand

Director: Fernanda Valadez

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 95 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Robert Abele

Jan 22, 2021

Hypnotic and heartbreaking, Identifying Features is a feature debut to marvel at, but only once you’re able to shake off the bone-deep chills emanating from Mexican filmmaker Fernanda Valadez’s disorienting tale of a mother’s search for her missing son. Read full review

100

Kim Hughes

Jan 20, 2021

Beautifully shot and terribly sad, with a wildly twitchy score ratcheting up the tension, the Mexican drama Identifying Features is a profound statement about maternal love, brutal inequality, and institutional corruption. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Jan 19, 2021

It takes a special sort of confidence to make a quiet movie, and that’s exactly what director Fernanda Valadez displays in her debut feature, Identifying Features. Read full review

Alex Saveliev

Nov 12, 2020

Apart from the two leads, there’s little warmth or humanity to be found here, the film purposefully cold and distancing, much easier to admire than to love. That said, there’s plenty to admire in this sad, contemplative journey into the heart of darkness. Read full review

Teo Bugbee

Jan 21, 2021

It’s a confident debut feature, and a sophisticated acknowledgment of the powerlessness that migrants face. Read full review

Josh Kupecki

Jan 22, 2021

An unsettling feeling hums through the film, and remains well after. Less of a jolt, then; call it a sustained current. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

Jan 20, 2021

A film that straddles the line between artful and arty like this one isn’t designed for a wide public. There are moments that are striking, even if the their impact is muddied by a minimalism that at times feel pretentious. “Features” is ultimately worth the sit, but it needn’t have required quite so much effort. Read full review

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User Reviews

ChanekeCholo

Dec 13, 2021

"Todos nos parecemos de espaldas", cuando se van, todos aspiran a lo mismo y todos esperan lograrlo.
Sin Señas Particulares, ganadora del Ariel a mejor largometraje y galardonada en el Festival de Sundance llega para quedarse como una de las mejores películas mexicanas hasta el momento."Todos nos parecemos de espaldas", cuando se van, todos aspiran a lo mismo y todos esperan lograrlo.
Sin Señas Particulares, ganadora del Ariel a mejor largometraje y galardonada en el Festival de Sundance llega para quedarse como una de las mejores películas mexicanas hasta el momento. Hermosamente dirigida, actuada, escrita y fotografiada con un trasfondo totalmente desolador, melancólico e inhumano.
Incluso haciendo referencia al Purgatorio, al infierno y al Diablo mismo, estas de maneras sutiles y justificadas para el desarrollo de la trama, las cuales le agregan un valor narrativo muy interesante a la película.
Está llena de elementos, personajes secundarios y lugares donde ocurre la historia, y todo se siente realmente orgánico, natural y son momentos que uno como mexicano reconoce y debe tener cuidado, aspecto que yo lo definiría como tener una paranoia sana. Pero la situación por la cual pasan estas personas es llevada al extremo hasta el punto de sentirse que estas en el Infierno en la Tierra, aun así, mostrándonos que, bajo esas circunstancias, las personas aún pueden mostrar bondad y empatía unas con las otras.
Lamentablemente esta película no puede estar más lejos de la realidad y refleja realmente lo peligroso y desamparado que es la migración.… Expand

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Daniel54

Feb 26, 2021

The movie takes its time, and unfolds very well at the end. Visually it had some brilliant scenes and shots.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

bertobellamy

Aug 7, 2021

Seeing 'Identifying Features' is shocking not only because of the harshness of its story but also because of everything it reminds of: endless news of found graves, hanging bodies, or mass kidnappings to swell the ranks of the drug traffickers.

Few portraits of violence in Mexico are asSeeing 'Identifying Features' is shocking not only because of the harshness of its story but also because of everything it reminds of: endless news of found graves, hanging bodies, or mass kidnappings to swell the ranks of the drug traffickers.

Few portraits of violence in Mexico are as accurate as this one; Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero show great respect for the victims by not creating a spectacle of misfortune. And yet, his minimalist story has an unusual power.

'Identifying Features' is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable Mexican films of the 21st century; and the film should win the most important Ariel awards, not to mention that it must be chosen to represent the country next year at the Oscars.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Brent_Marchant

Feb 23, 2021

When the teenage son of a middle-aged Mexican mother goes missing while en route to the US to find work, she's determined to find out what happened to him, despite official reports that he was killed by gangs roaming the country's rural highways. Her perilous odyssey proves to be quite anWhen the teenage son of a middle-aged Mexican mother goes missing while en route to the US to find work, she's determined to find out what happened to him, despite official reports that he was killed by gangs roaming the country's rural highways. Her perilous odyssey proves to be quite an experience, more incredible than she ever could have imagined. Such are the makings of this chilling, sinister road trip mystery through the wilds of rural Mexico, one that literally and symbolically portrays the evil inherent in the nation's crime crisis. Although the film drags a bit in the middle and occasionally has inadequate subtitling, the picture's closing act provides quite a payoff, one that, like much of the production, is depicted with exquisite, if unsettling, cinematography. Director Fernanda Valadez's debut feature is a meticulously crafted offering that provides viewers with an inside look into a deeply worrisome problem, one that should give pause to anyone watching it -- or considering a trip through the Mexican countryside.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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