A heist picture unlike any other, THE DELINQUENTS upends genre expectations with a gentle yet deftly constructed existentialist fable. Timid bank clerk Morán (Daniel Elías), fed up with his dead-end middle-management job, decides one day to simply walk into the vault, pack a bag with enough cash to cover his salary until retirement age, and saunter out. Knowing he has been inevitably caught on security camera, Morán plans on turning himself in, but not before passing the stash along to his coworker Román (Esteban Bigliardi), now an accomplice who agrees to hold onto the money until Morán gets out of prison. From this gripping premise, Argentinean writer-director Rodrigo Moreno spins an endlessly surprising tale that moves into increasingly idyllic territory — adding layer upon layer to the twinned stories of these two men’s lives — and inquiring what it means to be free in a world of monetary satisfaction.
“Like its characters, Moreno’s banally surreal, madly sensible, big-little movie eschews the safe old daily grind in favor of the perilous unknown, and so, in a uniquely pleasurable way, reminds us that we too have options: Choose work, or choose the whole wide, weird world instead.” —Jessica Kiang, Variety “A deadpan comedy which strides off down its own confident, eccentric path… This could be a cult classic.” —Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian “A series of deliciously confounding turns. Leisurely, elliptical, enigmatic but guided with a sure hand, the film is preoccupied with duality: work versus leisure, routine versus spontaneity, restriction versus freedom, familiarity versus discovery.” —Wendy Ide, Screen Daily
