‘Kokoloko’: Gerardo Naranjo’s Feverish Follow-Up To ‘Miss Bala’ Falls Flat [Tribeca Review]

Everyone enjoys a director’s comeback movie because when they are good, they are typically great. After stumbling for a period, Paul Schrader bounced back with “First Reformed.” George Miller proved that sequels can still surpass expectations with “Mad Max: Fury Road.” And branching into television—David Lynch took a 10-year hiatus after the release of “Inland Empire” before unleashing the generation-defining genius of “Twin Peaks: The Return.” All that to say, there are some high expectations for Gerardo Naranjo’s newest film. After snatching up a festival hit with “Miss Bala” in 2011, Naranjo spent the subsequent near-decade directing episodes of “The Bridge,” “Narcos,” and “Fear the Walking Dead” before re-appearing on the cinematic stage with “Kokoloko,” a project that, hopefully, will go down in history as a disappointing outlier in Naranjo’s impressive filmography.

READ MORE: Tribeca 2020 To Move Online With Select Content Open To The Public

When observed from the context of the director’s career up until this point, even in comparison to “Drama/Mex” and “I’m Gonna Explode,” “Kokoloko” gives off the vibe of a creator fed up with the restraints of creativity within the mainstream; even the trio of lead characters in Naranjo’s latest film—Marisol (Alejandra Herrera), Mundo (Noé Hernández), and Mauro (Eduardo Mendizábal)—do not abide by any rules. The plot, as it is, centers around Marisol, a young woman caught in a love triangle between the much older Mundo and her cousin, Mauro. Passions swell. Violence erupts. Blood is spilled.

To be fair, traditionality could not be further from Naranjo’s agenda for “Kokoloko.” At its most memorable, the experimental drama radiates with the energy of an artist on the quest to reinvent himself; a filmmaker set on rediscovering his affection for the medium and eliminating any trace of impulse control in the stylistic department. “Kokoloko” is a fever dream shot on Super 16mm—the film’s color grading fluctuates at random, its sound design sizzles as light leaks into the frame, and jarring edits erase any remnants of temporality. Naranjo welcomes you into a world driven purely by emotion, not logic.

READ MORE: ‘Pray Away’: Kristine Stolakis’ Doc Is One Of The Most Important Films Of The Year [Tribeca Review]

Unfortunately, the director’s adamant refusal to adhere to guidelines also deprives much of the enjoyment that “Kokoloko” has to offer. Without any substance to latch onto, the film can only distract you with its abstract sensibilities, outbursts of violence, and explicit sexuality for so long before you succumb to the tedium of its drifting imagination. Although witnessing Naranjo’s return to his roots as an impassioned neophyte eager to experiment with cinema is an intriguing spectacle to behold—especially considering his recent ventures into the mainstream—this ambitious opus is also accompanied by the oft-repeated critique of the typical student film—interesting ideas cannot supplant poor execution.

Scraping away at the sugar-glossed grime that coats the skin of “Kokoloko” does not reveal any coded secrets or hidden treasures. Applying an ultra-filthy coat of garnish to a semi-Greek tragedy sounds exhilarating in theory, but the narrative’s dedication to chaotic inertia guts the impact. Freedom and control, as it relates to men domineering over women, stand out as the principal themes of the work; Mauro verbally refers to Marisol as his “property,” which removes any question what Naranjo has on his mind for “Kokoloko.” Elsewhere, the notion of technology feeding impulses and influencing relationships pops up every once and while—radios assist Mauro in keeping Marisol under his control, while Mundo feeds his lust for Marisol over the internet via instant messages and video calls—which adds an unexpected layer of depth, but it is not enough to salvage the film.

READ MORE: ‘Fully Realized Humans’: Joshua Leonard Delivers An Impeccable Dramedy About A Flawed Couple [Tribeca Review]

By sacrificing all sense of order for its collage-like freneticism, “Kokoloko” manages to capture the viewer’s eye but loses his attention, leaving only jagged images and bursts of color to serve as its emotional afterimage. Nevertheless, if “Kokoloko is all it took to bring Naranjo back into the world of cinema and readjust his priorities, the aftermath will be well worth it. Still, let’s hope that the director’s future projects manage to merge the visual innovation with his talent for storytelling in a more palatable form. [C-]

Click here for more coverage of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.