Everybody Knows? Grief And Catharsis In ‘Exotica’

The pleasure and pain of a striptease is structured around the anticipation of a reveal. 

Item by item, the dancer sheds their clothing until their body is bare: a vulnerable corporeality that titillates and disarms the watcher. Exotica, Atom Egoyan’s 1995 masterpiece, structures itself as such, gently unveiling more and more of its storyline slowly and teasingly. As each layer is delicately shed, we only become more involved and emotional; when we get the full reveal, literally and metaphorically, we’re awash with an intense feeling of catharsis. 

Similar to the way Magnolia or even Love Actually give us snippets of an ensemble cast, in Exotica, we aren’t sure…

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