Review: Love doesn’t come without entanglements in ‘Sand Dollars’

An older French woman finds love with a much younger woman on the beaches of the Dominican Republic in “Sand Dollars.”

Anne (Geraldine Chaplin) knows that her young Dominican paramour, Noelí (Yanet Mojica), is squired about by a boyfriend type on a moped, but Anne is too caught up in their easy intimacy to care. The women savor saltwater-misted days and bachata-soaked nights, and the older woman hopes to bring her lover to Europe to meet her family.

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Noelí has other things on her mind too: juggling the expectations of her relationships while searching for rewards of the more material variety.

Among the group of expats, vacationing in their historic estates, discussion of their local loves brings out all of the unfortunate colonialism contained within these relationships. Though Anne and Noelí’s connection seems natural and equal, the unspoken power dynamics are difficult to deny. Although Anne is a hopeless romantic when it comes to her lover, it is inevitable that their romance is hopeless.

Co-directed by husband-and-wife filmmaking team Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, “Sand Dollars” has an assured, light touch. Guzmán is a native of the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, and a familiarity of place permeates the piece, capturing all the sights and sounds that add to its character. The duo spins an artful and slyly political example of contemporary art cinema informed by the ethos of the New Wave.

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“Sand Dollars.”

No MPAA rating.

Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle’s Playhouse 7, Pasadena.