Ranking The Films Of Alejandro G. Iñárritu From Worst To Best
4. Babel
The final entry in Iñárritu's "Death Trilogy" exceeds its other entries in one key way: scope. Just like 21 Grams and Amores Perros, different characters and storylines are brought together and connected by a tragic incident. Babel's main distinction is it expands its narrative to a global scale.
The film takes place across three continents focusing on plotlines such as a married couple's (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) holiday in Morocco taking a deadly turn after Blanchett's character is shot, a Mexican woman taking the two American children in her care across the border to her son's wedding then trying to get them home, and a deaf Japanese schoolgirl struggling with her own mental health in the wake of her mother's suicide.
Babel succeeds at being emotionally resonant with intriguing characters and powerful social commentary. Unfortunately, the Pitt/Blanchett arc is the clear weak link here and it makes you long for the other storylines to jump back in. They're not giving bad performances but their characters are slightly undeveloped and their story feels the most stagnant.