Ostensibly a thriller, this Venezuelan kidnap film borders on horror, dwelling on a young couple’s ordeal in terrifying detail. Inspired by the many real-life kidnappings in Caracas, it shows Carla (Mía Maestro) and Martin (Jean Paul Leroux) nabbed after a night on the tiles and taken on a harrowing journey while their heavy-handed captors await a ransom.
It’s an educational insight into the devastating consequences of the country’s social unrest and a pacy, gripping watch. Aside from the odd dash of black humour, however, this is hard to class as entertainment: its obsession with gangster culture verges on the morbid, and the characterisation is elbowed out of the way by the action. Nonetheless, as a vivid depiction of a kidnapping, it does the job.