Like other Egoyan films, this one starts like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle, with the missing pieces added as it progresses. However, it is not the plot that is the most important part of the film but the intriguing interactions between the characters. There's the auditor trying to overcome a painful past while reviewing the books of the gay pet shop owner. Then there's the lesbian strip club owner, the jailbird stripper, and the DJ who completes the volatile love triangle. There is fine acting by the entire cast, with Greenwood and Koteas specially good. The music by Danna perfectly underscores the sense of mystery. Egoyan masterfully balances the plot lines until the pieces come together to form a nearly complete picture - there are still unanswered questions for the viewer to ponder!

Interesting opening credits. Interesting cast. Interesting use of Leonard Cohen's song. But in totality, just above average. The film deals with a set of characters, each having some sort of a psychological problem. Visually strong, but content-wise very weak.

This is my first Egoyan film. He has evidently some talent to make a viewer sit up and expect the unusual. But why populate an entire film with problem characters? That's not reality.

The most interesting bit was actor Don McKellar who plays Thomas is made to look like the director Atom Egoyan, complete with his glasses. Is that an autobiographical touch?

One's patience will be rewarded if you make it to the end of the picture. I guess that's my way of saying that it won't appeal to everyone, especially if you quit half way in like another reviewer mentioned, stating that it didn't make any sense. I'd have to agree with that observation, at the half way point it doesn't make any sense. But disparate threads eventually come together, even if some of the elements introduced have no bearing on the story. The film has a creepy vibe going for it throughout and things are definitely not what they seem at first. As an example, I thought Francis Brown's (Bruce Greenwood) relationship with baby sitter Tracey (Sarah Polley) was headed into unspeakable territory, and then we come to find out that she's his niece. It's those kinds of twists and turns that keep one off balance, just like Eric's (Elias Koteas) set up to get Francis thrown out of the Club Exotica. You never really know which way the story is heading until the very last scene, and the payoff is distressingly sad and depressing for the film's principal character, who's unable to reconcile his conflicted emotions over the loss of a daughter and wife in unrelated circumstances. It's safe for me to say I haven't run across another picture like this, at least not that I can recall. Even the title "Exotica" has the effect of misdirecting one's expectations after the fact, as the strip club atmosphere at the center of the story only provides the venue for the story to unfold in a most unexpected way.