Man Facing Southeast

This Argentine film freshens up an old cinematic device: juxtaposing science fiction and religion. A Buenos Aires mental hospital is thrown into an uproar when a mysterious male patient appears out of nowhere. As the psychiatrists grill the stranger, he sticks to a story that suggests that his origins are far from earthly. In fact, if his seemingly supernatural powers are any proof, he may well be a space alien. Unable to comprehend the incomprehensible, the authorities decide to lock the visitor away from public view, maybe even put an end to his life—and the analogies to Christ and Christianity are lost on no one. — Hal Erickson