‘The Great Seduction’ (2023) Netflix Movie Review - A Town With No Hopes

The Great Seduction (La gran seducción) is a Mexican comedy-drama film about Santa Maria. The narrator tells how the town was perfect just before a fishing industry opened and rendered the waters of Santa Maria fishless. This impacted the daily livelihoods of the residents hence they migrated in search of the American dream.

German (the main character) is left alone after his brother Pablo and his wife Mario also leave the town. For a livelihood, he used to cash out the money provided to a dead person by the Government.

The same fishing company that destroyed their town was ready to open a fish packing facility in their town on one condition which was they had to get a permanent doctor. Looking at the condition of this town, no doctor was ready to come. This was understandable as there were no amenities in Santa Maria.

Dr. Mateo used to work in a city before his boss ordered him to work in this small town. Now, the mission of the residents of Santa Maria is to woo this doctor and if they’re successful then they’ll get back all they have lost.

I think The Great Seduction is an okayish title with an average plot. There is nothing extraordinary thing about this 95-minute-long film. Be it the location used, plot, dialogues, or cinematography everything is average. There is nothing special in the movie which will be able to hold the attention of the audience. 

Had The Great Seduction been a short film with 20-25 minutes, it would have been more effective. Also, looking at the plot of the film, it appears like the writers took inspiration from a short news article they read somewhere and decided to write the plot of this film.

After watching the film, some might think that it is an inspirational story, however, I’d like to contradict this as in motivational stories, we see positive elements. The Great Seduction is filled with plotting and scheming. Not only they had duped the doctor, but they also made the man who came from the company a fool. He was bribed and the statistics shown were also wrong. The roots of the fish packing company were too weak that they could be taken back from Santa Maria at any time.

The Great Seduction is also not a story about hope because those who have hope in life don’t form attachments to the extent that they can't identify the crisis they’re in the midst of. They also don’t lose their family over the attachments to the land they’re born in. German stayed back in Santa Maria and he said that what runs in his veins isn’t blood but it is Santa Maria. He’ll never leave that place because his heart is accounted for. Now, if this person had hope, he wouldn’t sit back on that small island and move out to look out for more opportunities. To be honest, it is German’s character that ruined this movie for him. Had his character been better developed, it might have worked for me.

The Great Seduction doesn’t make any sense as there is no logic involved. The best character is Anita as she knows the consequences of the chaos the island people have created. The lengths to which the residents went to make things better for their island seem not to have any relation to reality. If the lies of the web are being created and 120 people are involved, there always will be a loose end which in this case was Anita. Mateo being a doctor was highly educated and his staying back on the island to help the people regain their financial stability didn’t make any sense.

The plot has several loopholes and I can say that the writers or the makers didn’t think twice before deciding to make it into a whole 95-minute movie. If we sit and think just 10 minutes after watching The Great Seduction, it’ll occur to us that just like the doctor was being fooled in the movie, the audience is also being made a fool of.

Final Score – [3/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times
Release Date: August 30, 2023, on Netflix