The Message (El mensaje) | 2025 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review

Gates of Heaven: Fund Explores Creature Comforts from Beyond

Iván Fund The Message (El mensaje)“We are not victims of the world we see, we are victims of the way we see the world,” Shirley MacLaine wrote in her 1985 memoir, Dancing in the Light, one of several publications in which the Academy Award winning actor explored her thoughts on reincarnation. It’s a sentiment which applies to the latest mysterious venture from Argentinean director Iván Fund, (The Message), a terse title which eventually reveals itself to be about interpretation, and perhaps taking what we need from the information we receive. As with several of his previous films involving children dealing with compromised adults (Soft Rains Will Come, 2018) or parents dealing with absent children (Dusk Stone, 2021), we’re left to ponder the intentions and possibilities regarding a young girl who professes to serve as an animal medium as she’s transported across an idyllic countryside.… Read the rest

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