Detective film in which a serial killer is hunted down by the police during the Covid-19 pandemic in northern Spain. Containment sets the mood for the film (the city's empty streets), reinforced by humid, verdant vegetation set against a backdrop of small hills on the outskirts of the city. The scenery is one of the film's strengths: there's also an abandoned factory, semi-abandoned farms, a mine and the deserted town itself. These set elements give the film its own atmosphere.

The other component is our duo of lead cops, who don't follow procedures, one of whom dies suddenly before the film's end. The failure to follow procedures leaves the viewer doubtful and diminishes the credibility of the whole.

Finally, the rational explanation of the murders and their resolution introduces a mystical dimension, already seen many times, but here dosed just right so as not to unbalance the film. The whole thing is wrapped up in such a way as to make it impossible to guess who the killer is, despite the various hypotheses raised along the way.

In short, an unoriginal but honestly effective Netflix B-movie. A film for Martians who land on planet Earth.

(2023) Infiesta (In Spanish with English subtitles) THRILLER

It takes place during the year of Covid, and two homicide detectives of Samuel García (Isak Férriz) and Marta Castro(Iria Del Río) are assigned to the abduction case when a young ragged and disheveled girl reappears in the middle of the road before she is then put in a hospital. When the two detectives are coming up to see her, they apparently have their own problems at home, while Samuel is forbidden to see his mother at a care home, Marta's boyfriend has covid. By the time they got their first real lead a guy, Manuel Gomez known as "Dog Killer" somewhat owns a winery, only when he's found out he shoots himself.

The movie was involving for about a hour and 20 minutes up until the third bad guy was discovered, totally ignores proper police protocol. Like, the police had the photo all along and they do not investigate everyone in the photo immediately, how ridiculous! Netflix must have wanted them to wrap the movie up or something!

There's been thousands of films just like this one, done much better, so what was the point of any of this? Having it take place over the pandemic was also pointless, especially melodramatically naming the days of the lockdown like chapters that are supposed to mean something to the story's significance, because they didn't. Trying to convince the viewers the antagonists motives were a result of the pandemic was a far stretch, even to the best of imaginations. I kept waiting for some big twist or big reveal, and it never came. The entire story was just a waste of 96 minutes. What made this even more frustrating was the abysmal lack of basic policing protocols, because every crime scene both cops were at they had their paws all over the evidence. Did the producers forget that cops are supposed to wear latex gloves at crime scenes? Never mind there's a pandemic going on and they're still touching everything in sight lol. And in the final act when the female cop goes down the shaft, she's breathing so loud and heavy like she was the victim that was scared to death, and not a trained cop. This entire production was amateur-hour and a complete waste of time. It was a pointless and frustrating watch. It's a generous 4/10 for the somewhat believable performances and the decent cinematography, score and tone the film had.