Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Inept crime thriller has violence, sex, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Recurrence
What's the Story?
In RECURRENCE, Pipa (Luisana Lopilato) is keeping sheep and growing crops in a remote Argentinian area, raising her tween son and helping her aunt Alicia (Paulina Garcia) work with the local indigenous community. An indigenous girl is found dead near Pipa's home, burned and possibly raped. She worked for the Carreras, the wealthy landowning family that runs the town, and she's wearing a necklace that belonged to the family. The troubled Carreras son is involved in drugs and his engaged sister is having a questionable relationship on the side. Although the details aren't explained, Pipa lost her job as a police officer some years before, possibly because she uncovered police corruption. She encounters more of the same as she tries to find the killer. Her young son is threatened, as is her aunt.
Is It Any Good?
Recurrence displays one consistent characteristic throughout: confusion. A multitude of seemingly unrelated people are introduced at once, with no character development to speak of. Small details also add to the confusion. Is the main character named Manuela or Pipa? The timeline is chaotic. Are we in the present? The past? That the director and writers haven't the slightest idea how to tell a coherent story is made clear over and over. Suddenly, some new character in a suit is unhappy with a police officer. Who is the guy in the suit? A dead girl's missing cell phone is the subject of intense interest. It turns out a compromising sex video is on it. But she's dead, so how would anyone know she recorded the encounter? A boy accuses his mom of lying to him. She admits it. What's the lie? No clue.
Much is made of the difference between White faces and Brown ones and some are offensively referred to as "filthy Indians." Yet no one mentions that the actor playing the wealthy, land-owning White family's daughter also looks indigenous. And as if the plight of indigenous people had been deeply explored throughout the action (it was not), at story's end a sign refers to land in the process of being returned to the indigenous community: "property restitution pending." The filmmakers think that's all it takes to wrap up a plot point. A sign.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the narrative methods used by the director and writers to tell the story. Does the story make sense? Can this be understood if the earlier movies in the series haven't been viewed?
How do the police investigations depicted here differ from those seen on television shows? Does this seem worthy of a full-length movie? Why or why not?
Does the violence here contribute to our understanding of the story? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 27, 2022
- Cast : Luisana Lopilato , Paulina Garcia , Mauricio Paniagua
- Director : Alejandro Montiel
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 115 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : August 1, 2022
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate