Newly democratic Andalucia,1980. Detectives Juan (Javier Gutiérrez) and Pedro (Raúl Arévalo), a young idealist stalled in his career for criticising the military and an ailing veteran of General Franco’s Guardia Civil, are sent to literal backwater country to investigate the disappearance of two sisters, and find themselves chasing down a serial killer and a nasty local conspiracy.
A gripping police procedural thriller from writer-director Alberto Rodríguez with understated character (and political) depth as Spain’s fascist past looms over all the characters. Rodríguez punctuates the film with stunning overhead landscape shots, delivers a burst of action in a nighttime car chase on marsh causeways and pays off with haunting ambiguity.
