Even
before the corona-crisis that put the streaming giants like Netflix
and Amazon in the very centre of the film distribution world, those
platforms were already in the midst of expansion of their business,
especially to the non-English-speaking world. One of the juiciest
acquisitions in that field would be a very dark revenge
drama-thriller Eye for an Eye, directed by Paco Plaza
(of the REC found footage serial fame). After a short stint of
theatrical distribution at home in the last year's early autumn, it
moved to Netflix in January.
It
all starts with an old school drug kingpin Antonio (Xan Cejudo)
being released from the prison for medical reasons to die at home of
his terminal illness. Instead of spending his last days at home with
his two sons, Tono (Ismael Martinez, glimpsed in Pedro
Almodovar's Talk to Her) and Kiko (Enric Auquer),
whom he both despises, he checks in to a nursing home where the male
nurse Mario (Luis Tosar, Cell 211) takes interest in
caring for him.
While
the brothers hatched a deal with both the Chinese and Colombian
gangsters that went horribly wrong, so they need their father's money
and influence to save their asses, Mario is more of a mysterious
character with a personal motivation of his own. He wants to avenge
the death of his younger brother who fell victim of Antonio's clan,
so he cares for the old mobster by day, but laces his infusion with
bleach by night. The thing Mario forgets is that the revenge is
usually a two-way street, that he is not alone in the world, since he
is expecting a baby with his wife Julia (Maria Vazquez) whom
he loves deeply, and that Antonio is by no means a stupid, weak or
powerless man, even though he appears to the latter...
The
plot constructed in an air-tight fashion by the scriptwriting duo
consisting of Juan Galinanes and Alex de la Iglesia's
veteran collaborator Jorge Guerricaecheveria takes a little
bit more time to kick in fully, but once it does, around the
mid-point, Eye for an Eye becomes a really tense, thrilling
and occasionally brutal viewing experience. The prolonged exposition
has its own perks, though, like the positioning of the characters
motivation-wise and also painting the foggy, greyish-blue landscape
of Spain's north-western region of Galicia. Once the action starts,
Paco Plaza swiftly changes his directing style, adds more significant
close-ups to largely hand-held camerawork handled by Pablo Rosso
and uses Maika Makowski's orchestral score more frequently for
the added sense of drama.
The
acting is brilliant throughout. There is a certain gentleness in
Maria Vazquez' approach to the character of Julia, Ismael Martinez
and Enric Auquer are both memorable as Tono and Kiko, while Luis
Tosar plays against his usual leading man type, but succeeds to keep
the mystery about Mario unrevealed for long enough. The interplay he
has with Xan Cejudo as Antonio is the acting highlight of the film
and a pure joy to watch.
Both
Paco Plaza and Netflix have hit a bull's eye here. The director by
showing he is by no means a one-trick pony capable only of recycling
his found-footage schtick (his previous feature Veronica was
an unimpressive attempt at a garden variety Oujia-themed horror), and
the distributor by having the right sense for an international
thriller that works as well on a small screen as it does on a big
one.
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