‘Time Share’ Paints A Darkly Comedic, Complex Portrait Of A Family Vacation Gone Awry [Sundance Review]

Almost five years since the 2012 release “Halley,” Sebastian Hoffman returns to the director’s chair for an equally chilling yet comedic project “Tiempo Compartido” (“Time Share”), the lone Mexican production appearing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Tiempo Compartido” follows the absurd events surrounding Pedro (Luis Gerardo Méndez) and his family who just want to enjoy their “paradise” getaway in a tropical villa at Everfields International Resorts. Unfortunately, the resort is adamant in doing whatever it takes to sell timeshares, even if it is at the cost of a family torn apart. Meanwhile, personal demons surrounding Pedro and his wife (Cassandra Ciangherotti) are unearthed when they are forced to share their villa with another “family.” In the midst of all this happening, Andres (Miguel Rodarte), a hotel maintenance worker and workplace pariah, is forced to confront the collapse of his domestic universe following the tragic loss of his son and the consequential rift with his distancing wife Gloria (Montserrat Marañon).

Beneath the snowballing plot, Hoffman’s “Tiempo Compartido” is an undeniably multifaceted commentary on numerous societal plagues, but it’s particularly determined in exposing the false happiness postured by money-hungry conglomerates — like resorts trying to sell timeshares. Keeping the above in mind, ethnobotanist, lecturer, author and psychedelic guru Terence Kemp McKenna once said, “culture is a perversion. It fetishizes objects, creates consumer mania, it preaches endless forms of false happiness, endless forms of false understanding in the form of squirrelly religions and silly cults. It invites people to diminish themselves and dehumanize themselves by behaving like machines…”

Even though McKenna’s criticism of culture may be both a generalization and far too grating, its application is most relevant in regards to intrinsically Eurocentric systems like capitalism, which tend to pose a diminishing threat against dwindling cultures like those of many South American countries. As a result, preachings of false happiness ensues alongside the dehumanization of the individual experience.

While not as direct, “Tiempo Compartido” preaches this message heavily. With that being said, Hoffman presents to his viewers, the ramifications of how capitalism continues to degenerate the human experience with false forms of joy and fulfillment.

With the deliverance of this message funneled through the mirrored struggles of two families who have either fallen apart are on the verge of doing so, “Tiempo Compartido” persists with heavy emotional carnage. Although it is a dark comedy in nature, the initial humor of “Tiempo Compartido” slowly wears off and grief creeps up in subtle increments. With jarring moments of mental instability, surreal dream sequences and fractured moments of character dynamics serving as the film’s source of darkness and strife, the emotional and tonal shift feels deceptive yet becomes almost too painful to endure.

As I mentioned before, Hoffman’s latest film possesses many levels to its overall message. While one can surely appreciate “Tiempo Compartido” for the sake of its societal criticisms, there are many other thematic complexities explored through the incredibly revealing dialogue.

There is a moment in “Tiempo Compartido” where Andres is talking to one of his coworkers, who irritatingly notices that Andres signed up for English classes. Perplexed, Andres replies, “I just want to improve. For what? I don’t know.” Andres’ words serve a larger importance than a personal one. As the question of “Who was I meant to be” looms heavy-handedly over the film’s plot, there is an obvious discomfort suspended to the notion of complacency and settling down. Why this is the case isn’t entirely clear, but the urgency to improve, to force oneself into a situation of superficial happiness is a festering internal struggle toiling within the film’s main characters.

Aside from Hoffman’s unfettered questioning of society and human enjoyment, there is an undoubted visual poetry to his latest endeavor. For instance, viewers are bombarded by a heap of mirror imagery and reflections. Whether the significance of these particular images contributes to the possibility that these two families “mirror” each other in their suffering, or whether it lends a hand in hammering home the main characters’ perpetual struggle discerning real happiness from distorted/reflective happiness, these visual cues profoundly dictate the film’s narrative and how it is viewed by the audience.

Although it may be easy to point to plenty of other moments of intricate visual storytelling, the imagery permeating the film’s multifaceted message never feels forced, which is why “Tiempo Compartido” is such a phenomenal piece of cinema. Despite how overwhelmingly disconcerting the film feels at times (jarring cuts, Jonestown-esque work environment, white higher ups (RJ Mitte), eerie music and surreal hallucinations), this film is beautifully subtle even with all of its underlying complexities. [B]

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