This Colombian thriller already sparked two remakes (Turkey and India) and it’s only a matter of time before we see a Hollywood one, so if you’re looking for that interesting foreign thriller to recommend to your friends and bitch how they are going to ruin it with a remake, check out La Cara Oculta. With a based-on-a-novel vibe, this is an engaging thriller with a really strange vibe. There are a couple of really weird motives like the Nazi aspect and although Argentina is by far most famous for this, entire Latin America was at the end of the Ratlines.
However, these motives are just gimmicks that help with the dynamic and enrich the main story that’s about romance, love, lust and morality. The main story is filled with interesting character choices and moral dilemmas that are questioning human nature. This creates an intense atmosphere with a lot of suspenseful moments reminiscent of the best Spanish thrillers like Mientras duermes or Los cronocrímenes. There are a couple of cliches but there are also a couple of great twists and redeeming moments, especially towards the end. Cleverly written and shot this is one of those movies that you can watch a couple of times, each time noticing the subtle hints and camera queues that you missed earlier.
Although everything seems to be going so well for him, we find Adrian, a talented conductor, drinking heavily in a local bar. His girlfriend just left him and to make things worse she did it with a video message. Helping him drown his sorrows in a whiskey is a young and beautiful waitress Fabiana. After he got in a fight outside of the bar, she decides to take him home because he was clearly not in a condition to drive and this sparks a romance between the two. A romance that will soon face its first problem when police officers knock on Adrian’s door informing him that they cannot locate his ex and that she’s now considered missing…
I hate to be repeating myself in every Non-English speaking movie review, but I have to say again that The Hidden Face looks great. The cinematography was spot on and a saturated color pallet gave off that sleek and modern look that many of the current cinematographers are trying to copy. You simply don’t feel that this movie was shot almost ten years ago, back in 2010. Starring Quim Gutiérrez and Martina García, acting was good. I found Quim to be too off for a movie like this, I just could not get his vibe but this could be because I am a man and there’s something primal going on.
Martina was perfect as a carefree waitress who found herself in the middle of a perfect romance. This angle was also a thing of beauty, a wounded male in need and a beautiful female searching for that perfect match. A timeless story that even I had to notice. Speaking of beauty I also have to notice full frontal nudity and justice for small tits, finally. Too bad Mr. Conductor didn’t treat us with something more than his ass. The perfect balance between romance, sex, intrigue and mystery makes The Hidden Face a great and refreshing thriller, especially if you’re tired of the formulaic ones that are so popular right now. With a vibe that’s neither Hitchcockian or eighties and nineties style, this is something new with a nice and yummy taste.
Director: Andrés Baiz
Writers: Andrés Baiz, Arturo Infante, Hatem Khraiche
Cast: Quim Gutiérrez, Martina García, Marcela Mar, Clara Lago, Alexandra Stewart, Humberto Dorado
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772250/
