Mario(Adrià Collado) and pregnant girlfriend Carla(Macarena Gómez) are looking for an apartment when they have the misfortune of answering an ad found in their current mailbox. Carla finds herself in a horrifying situation when Mario is bludgeoned by the real estate agent, Portera(Nuria González) who insists that they will remain in their new apartment, no exceptions.
The supposed real estate agent is in fact an enraged, deranged former proprietor of the apartment complex, who went off the deep end after her building was condemned, tenants evicted. Decorating the ramshackle apartment complex, located in an ugly part of the city, with mannequins couldn't satiate the desire for human occupancy so Portera decided to stalk and kidnap tenants against their will. While Clara contemplates a means of escape, there's another kidnapped victim who will attempt to as well upon freeing herself.
Well, besides the moments where the director causes the damn camera to tremble, and some really, really lame-brain, stupid decisions by Mario and Carla, who, to be honest, cut their own throats by not "finishing the job" when they have Portera in a vulnerable position(..this is the understatement of the week!), Jaume Balagueró's To Let, for the "6 films to keep you awake" series, has some inspired insanity, with many macabre highlights. It's essentially a "maniac on the loose" feature confined within the claustrophobic setting of the colorless, dreary apartment complex. There's a couple of developments towards the end, involving the release of dangerous threats locked away, Mario and Carla contributing to these circumstances because of not taking care of the psycho after subduing her properly(..a startlingly grisly highlight). Sometimes I wanted to reach in the screen and shake Carla for she's such a weakling, she allows Portera to drag her around, chain her hands, and slap her around when there are certainly opportunities for her to defend herself. Mario confoundedly returns to a fiend that had nearly assaulted Carla to unlock his chains! I mean, even when Carla was chained, she could used them as a weapon to clock Portera over the head. The constant in To Let is Clara's weak-willed nature..I mean, for chrissake, there's a bun in the oven, put up a fight or something, instead of remaining an obstinate coward. This will undoubtedly work for some as a roller-coaster ride clocking at 65 minutes with an unsettling conclusion, but I have a hard time swallowing the ineptitude of the characters involved.
The supposed real estate agent is in fact an enraged, deranged former proprietor of the apartment complex, who went off the deep end after her building was condemned, tenants evicted. Decorating the ramshackle apartment complex, located in an ugly part of the city, with mannequins couldn't satiate the desire for human occupancy so Portera decided to stalk and kidnap tenants against their will. While Clara contemplates a means of escape, there's another kidnapped victim who will attempt to as well upon freeing herself.
Well, besides the moments where the director causes the damn camera to tremble, and some really, really lame-brain, stupid decisions by Mario and Carla, who, to be honest, cut their own throats by not "finishing the job" when they have Portera in a vulnerable position(..this is the understatement of the week!), Jaume Balagueró's To Let, for the "6 films to keep you awake" series, has some inspired insanity, with many macabre highlights. It's essentially a "maniac on the loose" feature confined within the claustrophobic setting of the colorless, dreary apartment complex. There's a couple of developments towards the end, involving the release of dangerous threats locked away, Mario and Carla contributing to these circumstances because of not taking care of the psycho after subduing her properly(..a startlingly grisly highlight). Sometimes I wanted to reach in the screen and shake Carla for she's such a weakling, she allows Portera to drag her around, chain her hands, and slap her around when there are certainly opportunities for her to defend herself. Mario confoundedly returns to a fiend that had nearly assaulted Carla to unlock his chains! I mean, even when Carla was chained, she could used them as a weapon to clock Portera over the head. The constant in To Let is Clara's weak-willed nature..I mean, for chrissake, there's a bun in the oven, put up a fight or something, instead of remaining an obstinate coward. This will undoubtedly work for some as a roller-coaster ride clocking at 65 minutes with an unsettling conclusion, but I have a hard time swallowing the ineptitude of the characters involved.