Octubre

Directed by Daniel and Diego Vega

(Not Rated)

***

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“Little happens and little is said” in this winningly deadpan film from Peru, said V.A. Musetto in the New York Post. After “a dour, middle-aged loan shark” finds a baby who’s been left inside his rundown Lima apartment, he’s reluctant to abandon even his habit of frequenting prostitutes. Yet this film by two brothers isn’t exactly grim: “It has the feel of something Jim Jarmusch might have made in his early years—lots of dark humor that you’ll think of in the middle of the night and laugh about.” When the moneylender hires a neighbor, Sofia, to look after the child, the unconventional trio appears headed down a predictable path, said Keith Uhlich in Time Out New York. But it’s to the creators’ credit “that we’re kept on edge as to where things will go.” Call it “art-film realism,” said Manohla Dargis in The New York Times. Using a digital camera that picks up “every wall crack,” the directors “hold their shots long enough for you to scan details, look deep into faces, and think on how little (or much) it takes to be happy.”