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Amat Escalante’s “Lost in the Night” (Original title: Perdidos en la noche) is driven towards an exploration of guilt, regret, and morality. It skewers the class divides rampant as they are in its setting of Mexico. Across the rural space, the markers of denomination, hierarchies of privilege, and exclusion are starkly evident. As the less-endowed strike out against injustice and exploitation, down comes a brutal hammer. It’s a morally murky quagmire Escalante depicts, hinting at a worldview refusing to trade in clear-cut binaries. The bad guys express remorse, and the good one who has the right on their side don’t always do morally favorable things.

Escalante surprises, especially since the thematic terrain of class conflicts is a well-trod one. So, he genuflects on the characterization, amping up unexpected discoveries and realizations shifting across a morally nebulous spectrum. No person is wholly avaricious, they have quite a few redeeming qualities.

Sovereign is proud to announce that award-winning Mexican director Amat Escalante’s powerful thriller Lost In The Night received its UK premiere at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival, as part of the ‘Thrill’ section, and now the film is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.

From acclaimed Mexican director Amat Escalante, following Heli, for which he won Best Director at Cannes in 2013, and The Untamed, which won him the Best Director prize at Venice in 2016, comes Lost In The Night, a taut, engrossing thriller that blends traditional elements of Latin American cinema with astute social commentary on Mexican society and contemporary influencer culture.

The film, which premiered at Cannes this year, stars Juan Daniel García Treviño (Narcos México), and Latin American influencer superstar Ester Expósito, who has 27 million followers, and features a superb score by Stranger Things composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.

The film...

Cannes frequently gets criticized for the paucity of Latin American representation in the main competition, so it was widely assumed that the new feature from festival veteran Amat Escalante, the 2013 best director winner for Heli, would be guaranteed a spot. Sad to report that watching Lost in the Night (Perdidos en la noche), it’s easy to see why it was shuffled off to a sidebar. The Mexican filmmaker moves out from the shadow of his former mentor, Carlos Reygadas, with his most accessible work to date in this revenge thriller, which is engrossing enough but also a bit meandering and underpowered.

Escalante’s fifth feature takes its cues more from his experience in television on Narcos: Mexico than from his previous big-screen work, which could in theory bring him to a wider audience. But it lacks the tight cohesion of that series at its best, and softens the jarring intensity,...

Amat Escalante’s title debuted in the Cannes Premiere section.

Mexican auteur Amat Escalante’s Lost In The Night is to be released in the UK and Ireland by Sovereign, following its debut in the Cannes Premiere section.

Sovereign is aiming for a late 2023, early 2024 theatrical release, with The Match Factory handling international sales.

The social thriller tells the story of a Mexican activist who disappears without a trace following her protests against the local mining industry. Five years later, her son attempts to find the culprit.

It was written by Escalante in collaboration with his brother Martín Escalante and Paulina Mendoza.

El estado del imperio

Produced by Nicolás Celis, Fernanda de la Peza.

Directed by Amat Escalante

Written by Amat Escalante, Martín Escalante, Paulina Mendoza

Starring: To be announced.

Release Date/Prediction: Seeing that casting commenced late in 2020, we can imagine a late premiere in the year and his second time competing in the Venice Film Festival.

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