Hurricane Season (2023) Movie Review – A laborious drama that drags on and on

An abstract drama that drags on and on

Hurricane Season is a long, drawn-out movie that tries to be clever with its winding narrative threads. Unfortunately, an abundance of unlikable characters, plenty of needless padding and a surprisingly simple and cliched theme underpins the whole 90 minute tale, making for a rather disappointing watch.

The story begins with a group of teens finding a dead body floating in the canal. This is the body of “the Witch”, a fabled figure in town that apparently holds mystical properties.

Yesenia shows up at the station that night to report her cousin Luismi for the crime, and from here the story switches perspectives to different players in town to get their side of the story.

The murder itself is but a footnote in the tale, and we don’t actually see the full extent of this until the final 10 minutes. Sure there’s the usual piecing together and filling in of context around how this came to be, but the journey there is slow, laborious and full of needless scenes that could have been cut completely.

Hurricane Season is filmed in an almost documentary-esque style, with lots of lingering shots on random objects, extreme close-ups of faces and lots of constant repetition around themes of homophobia and misogyny. This is clear from the first story all the way through to the last, where we lead up to a cliched conclusion that rounds out our character arcs.

The biggest problem with the film though comes from the characters themselves. Sure, the cheap filming style and some of the wonky acting may throw you off but the players in this world are so damn unlikable. Munra is arguably the best of the bunch, but she’s shy and doesn’t have many lines to speak, so it makes it hard to really warm to her.

Meanwhile, Luismi and Brando have absolutely no redeeming features until very late in the game, and eve then you’re unlikely to be fully on-board with the pair’s “healing”. As a result, you’ll find yourself growing tired of these people long before the run-time is done.

As an idea, Hurricane Season isn’t bad, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The film could have worked as a short anthological drama, with better characters and a lively pace, but unfortunately this one curdles into an unpleasant laborious slog.

Read More: Hurricane Season Ending Explained

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