Recently named Cahiers du Cinéma’s number one film of 2023, Laura Citarella’s epic two-parter is a narratively daring and utterly captivating piece of cinema that recalls the work of Jacques Rivette and David Lynch among others. Mystery and adventure lie at the centre of a sprawling journey across time and genres (including drama and sci-fi) that begins as a film which follows two men searching for the woman they love before going to delightfully unexpected places. 

Set in and named after the town in Argentina where Citarella was born, and produced by the rather brilliant experimental film collective El Pampero Cine, Trenque Lauquen is a companion piece to the director’s first feature film Ostende. Laura Paredes co-wrote the film with Citarella and plays Laura, the same character from Ostende, a plant biologist who has now upped and left her boyfriend (Rafael Spregelburd) and lovestruck colleague (Ezequiel Pierri) in the dark as to her whereabouts. 

Laura surrenders to the unknown and as each step of her journey unfolds, the film’s playful nature asks you to do the same in multiple exciting ways. The precise craft in constructing such a compelling, funny and elaborate tale is astonishing, and that Citarella has managed this while also generating such beautifully composed shots of the Pampas, impressive long-takes of her hometown, and a beguiling ambience, is a staggering achievement. The magnificently composed score by Gabriel Chwojnik sets both an intensely unsettling and electrifying mood that not only captures the feeling of falling in love but also complements Laura’s desires and obsessions. In Trenque Lauquen there is liberation in getting lost; and for audiences, this is exquisite cinema to get lost in. 

Trenque Lauquen: Part 1 And Part 2 is in cinemas from Friday 8 December.