'Infiesto' Review: Crime thriller makes the pandemic look a lot less scary
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Spanish crime, suspense, and mystery film 'Infiesto' is currently streaming on Netflix. The title refers to the name of a small mining town in northern Spain's Asturian Mountains. This town turns out to have quite an important place in the movie. The story is set in March 2020 when Coronavirus had just been declared a pandemic and countries had announced lockdowns all over the planet.
'Infiesto' centers on two determined detectives, Samuel Garcia (Isak Férriz) and Castro (Iria del Río), determined to find the men responsible for the abduction of a young girl three months earlier. When the girl suddenly turns up, they recognize a disturbing pattern in the abductions and must act fast to put an end to the disappearances before something even worse occurs. The Spanish crime thriller is written and directed by Patxi Amezcua.
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The setting seems extremely familiar
I was immediately transported back to a period of almost horrific uncertainty as the story of 'Infiesto' unfolded in March 2020. In the movie, we are still in the early stages of the pandemic lockdown with Spain being one of the worst-affected nations worldwide. Different scenes especially when we’re in a hospital or nursing home just bring back memories from almost three years ago when we (like everyone in the movie) thought it might be the end of the world. The movie also gave us a chance to see the hospital staff, as well as police officers, turn especially pale since they were at the forefront of seeing everything that happened during the course of the lockdown. This provides a compelling framework for the story. It also explains why some police detectives are required to handle a complicated case that could end up being quite large.
The plot begins when a girl emerges after being kidnapped for over three months. Two detectives, Samuel and Castro, quickly start investigating in a small mining town in the Asturian mountains where they frequently find themselves coming extremely close to finding the perpetrator. The movie also shows the difficulties faced by the two detectives during the lockdown since the investigation compels them to isolate themselves and stay away from their immediate family members.
Relationship between the two detectives
The two detectives are portrayed by Iria del Río as Castro and Isak Férriz as Samuel. The on-screen relationship between the two detectives seemed quite simple yet powerful. It looked like the two did make a great team for the most part of the movie. Castro showed trust in Samuel since the beginning of the investigation which was quite important in the story since the two had to work alone on this case due to the new Covid rules. Like all detective relationships, even this duo shared quick interactions about each other's families, creating an emotional bond. While Castro's boyfriend was in the ICU after getting infected with Covid, Samuel loses his mother during the investigation. The story was able to show that both of them definitely had each other's back. The fact that Samuel gave his whereabouts to Castro even after getting suspended from the case only goes to prove his trust in his investigation partner. In the end, when Samuel's decision to go to Infiesto with Officer Ramus takes a bad turn which ends up with him dying, Castro brilliantly takes the case forward all by herself and successfully catches "The Prophet", who had decided to sacrifice not one, but seven children in order to save the world.
'Infiesto' is streaming on Netflix