Juli Jakab appears in a scene from "Sunset."

Director László Nemes returns with “Sunset,” the follow-up to his Oscar winning film “Son of Saul.”

Fans of that film will likely be disappointed however, with “Sunset” a slow-methodical period piece that never finds its stride. It’s a film that plods along, with the audience definitely feeling the weight of its 144 minute run time.

Set in Budapest in 1913 just before the start of World War I, “Sunset” tells the story of Irisz Leiter (Juli Jakab) who returns to her childhood home hoping to work as a milliner at a hat store that was run by her parents up until their death.

Leiter’s return is met with protest from the new store owner Oszkár Brill (Vlad Ivanov), who tries to send her away. Before Leiter leaves the city she learns that she may have a long lost brother, and she opts to stay in Budapest to see if the rumors of a brother are true and perhaps learn more about her family’s past.

Leiter’s personal turmoil is meant to echo the turmoil of Hungary just before the war, but the connection feels forced with Nemes – who co-wrote the film – relying way too much on symbolic imagery to try and drive this home.

Jakab makes for a compelling lead, but she can’t save “Sunset” with it’s plodding story and slow pacing. This is a film where the more complex and entangled the mystery in the plot becomes the less engaging it is.

If there would have been at least some semblance of a satisfying pay-off then maybe “Sunset” might have worked. But that pay-off never materializes, with the film just meandering from point A to point B and taking a long time to get there.

And by the time it does get to its final shot it becomes apparent than “Sunset” is no more than a frustrating exercise in what could have been, from a filmmaker who you certainly would expect better from. 

Starring: Juli Jakab, Vlad Ivanov

Directed by: László Nemes

Rating: R for some violence

Playing at: Regal Hollywood 27 in Nashville

Grade: C-