La noche del cocodrilo
2020 · 20m · España
Directed by Igor Fernández
Genres: drama, experimental, surrealism
Tones: contemplative, dark, surreal
Three forces of nature, three animal-individuals, meet in a clearing of the human jungle for an instant, throw themselves at each other and merge. However, they know deeply that if they are consummated, they will end up devouring each other.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Three animals that want to merge but can't without destroying each other—that's the kind of premise that makes you sit up and ask what the hell you're actually watching, and Fernández commits to the surreal logic all the way through instead of winking at you.
The film positions itself at an interesting intersection of Latin American surrealism and contemporary experimental cinema, though the execution sometimes outpaces its conceptual rigor and the formal control could be more precise in its symbolic language.
That moment when the three bodies begin to move toward and away from each other in the same gesture—Fernández makes one sound design choice with the breathing that transforms the whole thing from abstract concept into something visceral and terrifying on almost no budget.