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Taekwondo
2016 105 min Argentina 18+
★6.8
Drama, Romance, Comedy
Director: Marco Berger, Martín Farina
Trailers
Description
Germán is invited by Fernando, a new friend from his Taekwondo training, to spend the holidays with his closest friends at a beautiful country house in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. In a “men only” environment, where hunky young studs bask in the hot sun, play in the pool, smoke pot and drink, some desires and doubts manifest themselves with more intensity than usual.
Worldwide:
$2,186
Starring
Gabriel Epstein
Actor
Lucas Papa
Actor
Nicolás Barsoff
Actor
Awards
1 win & 2 nominations
Key opinion
Taekwondo is a highly polarizing arthouse film that prioritizes atmospheric, slice-of-life naturalism over traditional plot structure. While some viewers appreciate its subtle, observational exploration of male camaraderie and quiet intimacy, others criticize its meandering pace and lack of narrative substance.
| Production | The film effectively captures a realistic, informal dynamic among a group of male friends through its focus on mundane social rituals like eating, sunbathing, and idle chatter. | |
| Pacing | The film utilizes a slow-burning, observational approach that some find poetically meditative, while others perceive it as a hollow and purposeless narrative. | |
| Acting | Critics disagree on the characterizations; some see the ensemble as indistinguishable and flat, while others view the understated interactions as a layered exploration of modern male relationships. | |
| Cinematography | The aesthetic presentation is marked by a persistent, fetishistic focus on the male body, which fans interpret as a stylistic choice but detractors find repetitive and tedious. | |
| Screenplay | The film lacks a clear narrative trajectory or traditional conflict, leading to complaints of disjointedness and emptiness from viewers expecting a structured plot. |