TIFF Next Wave 2023 Review: Adolfo

Mexican filmmaker Sofía Auza’s gentle and low-key debut feature Adolfo (which opens the 2023 edition of the young adult friendly TIFF Next Wave Festival) boasts a quirky premise, but wins thanks to a granular, organic, and down to earth approach.

It’s late one night in Mexico City, and Momo (Rocío De La Mañana) and Hugo (Juan Daniel García Treviño) find themselves at bus stops across the street from one another. Momo is fresh out of rehab and dressed like Amelia Earhart, waiting for a cab to take her to a friend’s costume/birthday party. Hugo is well dressed in a suit and tie, carrying a cactus named Adolfo. He’s travelling to his father’s funeral and has just missed the last bus of the night. Since he’ll have to wait until morning for the next one, Momo invites Hugo to kill some time at the party with her, sparking a new friendship built around spending most of the night finding a new home for Adolfo.

It sounds like the building blocks for something relentlessly dripping in quirk, but Auza’s film is a stripped down character study in the trappings of a familiar “one crazy night” narrative, packing as much as it can hold into just over an hour. Wide eyed, impulsive Mañana and the comparatively more taciturn García are a perfect match, with each performance complimenting the other perfectly. Both are hurting people worth rooting for, and Auza places them into a series of situations that give off palpable late summer night vibes. There’s also a wealth of impressive style in Auza’s debut, including a really great use of a moving elevator. Adolfo is proof that sometimes the biggest surprises can come in the smallest of packages.

Adolfo screens as part of the 2023 TIFF Next Wave Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto on Friday, April 14 at 7:00pm, featuring an in-person Q&A with director Sofía Auza. Adolfo will also be available to stream across Canada via digital TIFF Bell Lightbox starting Friday, April 14 at 10:00am.

Immediately following the screening on opening night, be sure to check out the TIFF Next Wave opening night party, featuring live performances from musicians competing in this year’s Battle of the Scores competition. The party is open to all and free, with no ticket required.