Synopsis
On the beaches of Kenya they’re known as "Sugar Mamas" —European women who seek out African boys selling love to earn a living. Teresa, a 50-year-old Austrian and mother of a daughter entering puberty, travels to this vacation paradise, moving from beach to beach.
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Cast
- Margarethe TieselTeresa
- Peter KazunguMunga
- Inge MauxInge
- Dunja SowinetzTourist
- Helen BrugatTourist
- Carlos MkutanoSalama
- Gabriel MwaruaMohammed
- Josphat HamisiJosphat
- Anderson MutisyaStripper
- Maria HofstätterAnna Maria
Recommendations
- 100
Village Voice
It might be the most lonesome film about a tropical vacation we've seen, and the greatest film ever made about the weird socioeconomics of tourism. - 90
Variety
Repulsive and sublimely beautiful, arguably celebratory and damning of its characters, it’s hideous and masterful all at once, “Salo” with sunburn. - 80
The Telegraph
Paradise: Love flits nimbly between humour and sadness, and treats potentially ponderous themes such as sex, race and the rancid legacy of colonialism with a welcome light touch. - 80
Time Out
The importance of Tiesel’s performance here can’t be overstated, and even during what is easily the most excruciating birthday-party scene involving cock ribbons ever, the actor lends an incredibly profound sense of sorrow to the film’s pitilessness. - 75
Slant Magazine
It often seems more intent on spelling out its awareness of the politics involved than in lingering on the aching human engaged in the libidinal transactions. - 75
Portland Oregonian
Paradise: Love, the first in a thematic trilogy, is a sad story about the difficulty individuals face when trying to establish relationships across vast cultural and economic gulfs. - 67
The A.V. Club
For better and for worse—often simultaneously—few movies have been as unflinching about the ugly, heartbreaking ways human beings can mutually exploit one another for fun and/or profit. - 60
The Guardian
Does the film tell us anything we didn't know already? And could anyone expect anything but the most straightforward irony in the title? The answer to both questions is no – but there is undoubted technique, and an authorial address to the audience.
