Film Review - Stars At Noon (2023)

Stars at Noon is not the first Claire Denis film to be set amongst a backdrop of political tension, with an undercurrent of eroticism, and it surely wont be the last. Similarly, this is also not the first Denis film to feel timeless in spite of its timely settings and events.

Adapted from the 1986 novel by Denis Johnson, which was set in Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution of the early eighties, Denis has moved the action to the Covid era. On every corner, the military is present and the once bustling streets are practically deserted.

Freelance journalist Trish, played by Margaret Qualley, has alienated her superiors by writing articles on the brutal extrajudicial killings taking place rather than the light-hearted pieces on travel that they wanted. With her port having been confiscated, she lives in a low cost motel paid for by a sympathetic government official and has sex for money and basic necessities. One day, Trish meets a charming and mysterious Englishman called Daniel (Joe Alwyn) and solicits him for sex. He claims to be in the energy industry but when Trish notices that he is being followed by Costa Rican cops, she warns him and soon they begin a dangerous affair.

The film clocks in at one hundred and thirty-eight minutes and each of those minutes is felt. Stars at Noon has a sweaty, languid feel to it that makes it feel reminiscent to those endless, summer nights where sleep evades you and you long for the relief of a cool breeze. That is not to say that it is not engaging but Stars at Noon doesn’t feel like a film that cares whether you like it or not.

Qualley is the standout here with a dedicated performance that shows how underrated she is as a lead. Yet in spite of a great performance, her character Trish is perhaps someone that the audience likes, not because she is someone we warm to, but because it would be inhumane not to. She is stuck in a terrible situation, and we root for her safety rather than her happiness.

The relationship between Trish and Daniel should be so ionate that it overwhelms everything else, and the film becomes about them. But whilst it is clear that Trish and Daniel appreciate each other bodies and recognise a certain companionship in feeling lost, that all consuming love and ion feels lacking and thus all of knock on feelings that the audience should have never really come.

Stars at Noon works best when recreating the oppressive feeling of heat and feeling trapped – whether that is in a financial, political or personal way. It works less well when trying to create a feeling of romanticism and love.