Time Share
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Time Share
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Time Share (aka Tiempo Compartido) is a 2018 comedy-drama about a man who takes his family to a resort and experiences misfortunes that seem to be part of a sinister plan. It's mostly in Spanish, with English subtitles. Profanity includes "f---ing," "s--tty," "a--hole," and "bitch." Two of the main characters are struggling to cope in the aftermath of their child's death (unshown, unspecified). One of these lead characters is shown having a panic attack while trying to referee a sack race. Two of the main characters are prescribed medication that makes them hallucinate flamingos. One lead character gets his nose broken by a macho tennis instructor who serves a ball aimed straight at his face. A man spits a mouthful of blood on a statue. A character implies that he wants to have sex with his wife.
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What's the Story?
Pedro (Luis Gerardo Mendez), his wife, Eva, and their young son have just checked in to their TIME SHARE at the Everfields Resort. Things go wrong almost immediately, when it's discovered that the resort double-booked their room, and since the rest of the resort and surrounding area are booked solid, they must share the time share with a family of five that Pedro immediately despises. Concurrently, Andres, who works the industrial laundry machines in the resort basement, is becoming increasingly estranged from his wife, Gloria, who is climbing the ranks of the Everfields sales ladder, mentored by the slick and duplicitous Tom (RJ Mitte). They both continue to grieve over the death of their child several years ago. While Eva and his son "Raton" connect with the other family and make the best of their stay, Pedro begins to feel increasingly suspicious and paranoid of everything around him, suspecting the other family and the resort itself of cult-like recruitment into making a greater commitment to the "Everfields family." After taking prescribed painkillers after an incident with the tennis instructor, Pedro hallucinates flamingos; Andres, who takes similar medication for his anxiety, also sees flamingos. Things come to a head when Pedro meets Andres, who gives Pedro some unsettling information about Everfield's motives, and Pedro must find a way to save his family from becoming increasingly seduced and taken in by everything Everfields claims to offer them.
Is It Any Good?
This "vacation disaster" movie is best enjoyed by fans of David Lynch and movies with a surreal and unsettling style. The pastel hues that predominate in many of the scenes -- garish, gaudy -- are the perfect contrast to the discomfort lurking around every corner. While set in Mexico, the colors and the general air of something more insidious going on give the setting the look of some kind of Central Florida hellscape. The tacky tourists in the background slurping blended cocktails, the cheesy hyper-masculine tennis instructor, the corporate double-talk intended to translate into a half-hearted apology -- all of this contributes to the unreal reality.
It's a "vacation gone wrong" story, but it's soon obvious that Time Share aspires to something so much more than that. Pedro comes off as a bit of a snob and a chauvinist, and yet one can't help but sympathize with someone who only wants to have some peace and relaxation with his family for the one week of the year he has off from work. Gloria comes off as callous to her estranged husband and gullible toward a duplicitous salesperson (deftly played by RJ Mitte, best known as Flynn from Breaking Bad), but can't be faulted for trying to rebuild and move on with her life after the death of her child. Themes of invasive small data used for marketing purposes and cult-like behaviors of those in search of a prefab paradise are exaggerated to the point of satire. It takes a little effort to get a fix on what's going on with the story, but the effort is definitely worth it.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about movies centered on vacations. What are some other examples of movies in which the characters go to a vacation destination, or to a campground, or even on a road trip? How does this break in their normal routines drive the story?
How is color used to define the places and set the mood in Time Share?
The movie has a surreal and unsettling style. What other movies that you've seen have a similar look and feel?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: November 30, 2018
- Cast: Luis Gerardo Méndez, Miguel Rodarte, RJ Mitte
- Director: Sebastián Hoffmann
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 96 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: August 29, 2022
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