"[C]inematographer-turned-director Lagarde crafts an eerie counterpoint to Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love, where all-you-can-eat buffets and all-inclusive delights replace sex tourism"
- Film Program, International Film Festival Rotterdam
At the Palacio, a rather forlorn all-inclusive resort somewhere in the Caribbean, there arrives an unusual guest, a gentle French-Canadian behemoth named Mike. After his arrival, unexpected and unusual events begin to take place in this quiet, shabby, sundrenched sanctuary. His voracious appetite, mysterious magnetism, and otherworldly talents combine to attract resort staff and tourists alike. Regarded as some kind of spiritual healer, Mike soon finds himself receiving the many and varied affections of those staying at the peculiar resort. His strange, saintly status will eventually complicate not only the operations of the resort itself, but also the intimate personal lives of its staff and guests.
Absurdist in some places, magic realist in others, and reminiscent of the deadpan drollery of Aki Kaurismaki and Ulrich Seidl, Ian Lagarde's enigmatic debut feature gives new meaning to north-south relations. All You Can Eat Buddha premiered at Toronto and Rotterdam and is now screening at IFC Center.
ll You Can Eat Buddha, Ian Lagarde (2017)
