The Delinquents (2023 film)

The Delinquents (Spanish: Los delincuentes) is a 2023 heist comedy-drama film written and directed by Rodrigo Moreno. Starring Daniel Elías and Esteban Bigliardi, it is a co-production between Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Luxembourg.

It had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2023. It was chosen as the Argentine entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Synopsis

Morán works as a clerk in a bank in Buenos Aires. He is as good as invisible to his colleagues. Over dinner with his colleague Román, Morán tells him that he stole exactly $650,000, which is exactly double what he would have made until his retirement. He plans to turn himself in, but not before offering Román to split the money if he agrees to hide it for the duration of his incarceration.

Cast

Daniel Elías as Morán
Esteban Bigliardi as Román
Margarita Molfino as Norma
Germán de Silva as Del Toro and Garrincha
Laura Paredes as Laura Ortega
Mariana Chaud as Marianela
Cecilia Rainero as Morna
Javier Zoro Sutton as Ramón
Gabriela Saidón as Flor
Adriana Aizemberg as Bank Client

Production

The Delinquents was produced by Ezequiel Borovinsky of Wanka Cine (Argentina), co-produced by Les Films Fauves (Luxembourg), Sancho&Punta (Brazil), Jirafa Films (Chile), Jaque Productora (Argentina) and Rizoma Films (Argentina).

Release

The film was selected to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 18 May 2023. In April 2023, Magnolia Pictures International acquired worldwide and US sales rights to the film. In May 2023, following the film's Cannes premiere, MUBI negotiated a deal to theatrically release the film in North America, United Kingdom, Latin America and other countries. It was also invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival in the Competition fiction section, where it was screened on 10 August 2023. Following screenings at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and 2023 New York Film Festival. It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'World Cinema' section and was screened on 6 October 2023.

MUBI gave the film a limited theatrical release in the United States on 18 October 2023. The film was theatrically released in Argentina on 26 October 2023, distributed by MUBI in collaboration with MACO Cine.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Breaking through the genre wall, The Delinquents is an astute existential heist movie that will reward patient viewers with a humorous fable about freedom." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on twenty critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Reviewing the film following its Cannes premiere, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded it five out of five stars, predicting it to be a future "cult classic".