Stars at Noon movie storyline. A young American journalist stranded in present-day Nicaragua falls for an enigmatic Englishman who seems like her best chance of escape. She soon realizes, though, that he may be in even greater danger than she is.[2] The film, unlike the novel, which is set during the Nicaraguan Revolution, is set in the pandemic-era present day.
Stars at Noon is a 2022 French romantic thriller film directed by Claire Denis, based on the 1986 novel The Stars at Noon by Denis Johnson, starring Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie, Danny Ramirez, and John C. Reilly. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. It was released in the United States by A24 on October 14, 2022.
About the Story
Trish is a young American journalist stranded in Nicaragua during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid a period of severe governmental instability. She is a travel writer whose coverage of brutal extrajudicial killings has alienated both her superiors and the ruling party; her passport has been confiscated and she is living in a flophouse paid for by a sympathetic cabinet minister. Trish assumes that she will be executed for her anti-government activities when the minister can no longer protect her. She has sex with government officials for money and basic necessities (largely unavailable due to the political crisis) while searching desperately for a way out of the country.
One day, Trish solicits a British man named Daniel for sex in a hotel reserved for wealthy foreigners. Daniel introduces himself as a petrochemicals consultant, but Trish assumes that he is really an intelligence agent. They have passionate, tender sex, and Trish follows him the day after. She observes him meeting with a man she identifies as a Costa Rican police officer. When questioned about the meeting, Daniel is surprised to hear of the man’s true identity, eventually realizing his hostile intentions after the officer chases the two through a market.
Trish lets Daniel hide out in the flophouse. The Costa Rican officer quickly finds them, but he is unwilling to attack Daniel in a building protected by a governmental official. Trish and Daniel fall in love. The climax of their emotional bond occurs in a deserted nightclub, where they dance romantically as he speaks about his wife.
Eventually, Trish is informed that the government can no longer protect her; she runs out of money and Daniel is cut off by his employer. Realizing that they will be killed by the Costa Rican once they leave the hotel, the two steal a car and drive towards a border. Along the way, they meet a man who Trish quickly realizes is a CIA agent. The man offers Trish safe passage to the U.S. in exchange for Daniel, but Trish refuses. At the border, the agent offers her the same deal, and questions how they will cross the border without Trish’s passport. It becomes clear that the agent and the Costa Rican are colluding with the authoritarian government, while Daniel is in some way trying to destabilize it.
Stars at Noon (2022)
Directed by: Claire Denis
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Danny Ramirez, Benny Safdie, Nick Romano, Stephan Proaño, Monica Bartholomew, Carlos Bennett, Sebastian Donoso, Hector Moreno, Robin Duran
Screenplay by: Claire Denis, Andrew Litvack, Léa Mysius
Cinematography by: Eric Gautier
Film Editing by: Guy Lecorne
Costume Design by: Judy Shrewsbury
Art Direction by: Arnaud de Moleron, Dilva Valdés
Music by: Tindersticks
Distributed by: A24 Films
Release Date: October 14, 2022
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