“Double Freedom,” the latest by the Argentine auteur Lisandro Alonso, marks a return to the simplicity of his earliest works following the more complex likes of “Eureka,” his 2023 tripartite epic starring Viggo Mortensen. A direct sequel to his 2001 debut “Freedom,” an intriguingly noneventful observational drama about a man living in seclusion in the Pampas, “Double Freedom” seems to pick up where its predecessor left off: Its protagonist, Misael Saavedra (played by the nonprofessional actor of the same name, an Alonso regular), is still contentedly chopping wood, smoking cigs, and hanging out in his makeshift shack. He’s aged, but otherwise his life looks pretty much the same as it did 20-plus years ago. Alonso takes this opportunity to shake things up — albeit in a rigorously subtle fashion that will excite his experimentally-minded followers and likely alienate those interested in more traditional narratives.
As might be expected from one of Latin America’s most idiosyncratic innovators, the film’s title announces more than its obvious relationship to its predecessor. It’s also a bit of a mission statement: There are differences in repetition if you pay close enough attention to the details. Slightly tweaked callbacks to the 2001 film are sprinkled throughout “Double Freedom,” as in scenes where Misael takes a whizz or chomps on grilled meat placed roughly along the same timeline as the original. Long, patient takes devoid of nondiegetic elements immerse us in Misael’s rudimentary existence, with birdsong and cracking branches working together with DP Cobi Migliori’s handsome long-shot compositions to create a trancelike atmosphere.
