The Forgiven Is Forgettable, Not Unforgivable
David (Ralph Fiennes) and Jo (Jessica Chastain) are on their way to a party in the Moroccan desert, and they are running late—though they give the impression of people who would be sniping at each other regardless of timing. “I hate to say…” starts David, a self-admitted “high-functioning alcoholic,” and Jo cuts him off: “No, you don’t.” She’s probably right. But their weary animosity towards each other gets a jolt when they hit a young man who jumps out in front of their car, killing him in the nighttime Sahara.
John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven is adapted from a Lawrence Osborne novel, but it takes place in a sort of purgatory that’s often depicted on stage. David and Jo, not knowing what else to do, bring the body with them to the party, thrown by their friend Richard (Matt Smith) and his leering partner Dally (Caleb Landry Jones). In touch with some of the locals in Richard’s employ, David eventually agrees to be escorted to the young man’s home and family, where he will return the body, attend the funeral, offer them some blood money and meet with the boy’s father Abdellah (Ismael Kanater). He approaches this as if filling out a stack of necessary but tedious paperwork. Jo, meanwhile, stays at the party and flirts with Tom (Christopher Abbott), a fellow guest.
McDonagh holds his central couple in a combination of contempt and fascination. At first, whatever faintly redeemable qualities they might possess seem tied up in their sardonic willingness to stay true to their privileged selves—or maybe they just seem comparably more likable because they’re played by charismatic stars. (This is a great advantage to appearing in a movie with Caleb Landry Jones, who has never met a character he couldn’t play as a mumbly, reptilian creep.) Their affectations—his bitter excuse for wise drollery; her arch, contained disgust—make for a convincingly clashed couple. But as David’s journey extends, he starts to seem capable of some kind of self-reflection, especially in his scenes with Abdellah. Jo, for her part, starts to look capable of at least momentary satisfaction.
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