Identifying Features

Released Jan 22, 2021

1h 35m

Drama

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Tomatometer

73 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

50+ Ratings

A middle-aged woman embarks on an increasingly dangerous journey to locate her son, who's gone missing after leaving Mexico to find work in the United States.

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Critics Consensus

A slow-burning descent into desperation, Identifying Features uses one shattered family's ordeal to offer a harrowing look at the immigrant experience.

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Adam Nayman

The Ringer

The film uses Magdalena as both a viewer surrogate and witness, stranding her in a series of agonizing real-time set pieces and letting the stray details of place and culture speak eloquently for themselves.

Jul 19, 2021

Full Review

Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

A sunrise stains a lake pink, a violent flashback is blurry and unsubtitled; Valadez's expressionist images give texture to the abstract emotions of rage and pain.

Rated: 4/5

May 2, 2021

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

This film is a cry of rage or a cry for help, on behalf of people in Mexico who have been abandoned to lawlessness, corruption and the vast market forces created by its northern neighbour.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 30, 2021

Full Review

Ethan Gordon

InSession Film

The reveal is crushing but somehow also too easy. To some degree, the ending feels like Valadez undercutting the detached, glacial nature of her movie, which is exactly what made it work in the first place.

Rated: B-

Mar 21, 2024

Full Review

Brett Doze

InSession Film

If there’s any film from 2021 that deserves more love and attention than it’s received so far, it’s this stunner from Mexico.

May 1, 2023

Full Review

Erick Estrada

Cinegarage

A knockout. [Full review in Spanish]

Jul 15, 2022

Full Review

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Flixster F

Slow burners don't suit me. I'm really not interested in slow-mos, long shots of scenery, seeing people walking, running, dancing, etc. that doesn't add anything to the story. This was a short terribly dragged to 90+ minutes. Not that it's the first of its kind or the last either as there's an audience for the types.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

jorge c

"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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A little too slow and too boring, but good effort.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the crudest and most real stories i have ever seen, great performances, widly dinamic pacing and flawless photography

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

nefasto r

Slow-burning, yes, but at the end of it you'll find yourself on fire. Gorgeous scenes.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A fascinating, well-acted, gut-wrenching masterpiece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Fernanda Valadez

Director

Mercedes Hernández

Magdalena

David Illescas

Miguel

Juan Jesús Varela

Jesús

Ana Laura Rodríguez

Olivia

Armando García

Rigo

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Identifying Features: Trailer 1

2:05

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Synopsis

A middle-aged woman embarks on an increasingly dangerous journey to locate her son, who's gone missing after leaving Mexico to find work in the United States.

Director: Fernanda Valadez
Screenwriter: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Foprocine, Avanti Pictures, EnAguas Cine, Corpulenta Producciones, Nephilim Producciones
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 22, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2021
Runtime: 1h 35m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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