La Isla Minima (2014)

I thought that before starting the Oscar 2016 season (yup, I'll do that again ...) might be a good idea to blog about something I don't want to miss. I had the inspiration to add "La Isla Minima" on my "to watch" list for the holidays. It's a Spanish thriller that got the public prize at the latest edition of the European Film Awards. Location: a swampy rural area of '80s Spain. Context: two missing girls and two police detectives sent to deal with the case. Spoiler (more or less - we have already the trailer and the IMDb synopsis): the responsible proves to be a serial killer, and more: one who did operate in the area undisturbed for quite a while.

I can't say that the movie amazed me with its "crime story". I've noticed online some comparisons with "Prisoners". It's not the case, it still has a long way to get to the story development we have there. Even so, it's still a decent thriller. What's also maybe a bit downgrading on the script side are the loose ends. Maybe they're intended, but still it's a bit too .. unsolved. However, "La Isla Minima" compensates through some other aspects. We probably have one of the best character development I've seen lately. Without spoilers, the two detectives come with different backgrounds, different experience, and let's say that the case makes them "grow" differently. Besides that we also have the place and the time. I have no idea personally how was the rural Spain in the '80s, but a more intense influence of the location in the action development I probably didn't see besides Alexander Payne's movies ("Sideways" - Californa Wine Valleys, "Descendants" - Hawaii, etc.), with the note that there you could feel the opposite, relaxed side, of the time and place.

Probably there is more to be said, but I'll close up with the technical side. I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to see this movie in cinema. Besides the soundtrack, the visuals are amazing. If last time I was saying that "Youth" is very good with this, then let's just add one extra class on top of it ... It's a lesson about how to do the visual part of a movie. There's a clear contribution of that in everything that the viewer will feel: suspense moments, uncomfortable silences, etc. .. maybe a bit centered on tensed vibes, but in the end.. it's a thriller :)

Rating: 4 out of 5