Boy Missing is a curious little low budget (comparatively) film from Spain containing a mute boy, an over-zealous mother, revenge, blackmail, murder, lies, deceit and intrigue than you can shake a stick at.
We open to a shot of a young boy (Domènech) walking along a dusty road. Shirt torn, pulled out from his pants and covered in blood. A passing car stops and next we see him at the hospital while two police officers question a nurse as the boy refuses to talk. The boys mother (well acted by Portillo), a well know defense attorney (after successfuly defending a client of serious embezzlement charges) arrives and explains to the police that he deaf and mute.
After the police identify a possible suspect but later release him, Patricia (Portillo) is incensed at the police's ineptitude. She contacts her sons father and this begins a series of disastrous events that lead to more and more complicated and unexpected consequences. Her actions to these events just lead to further consequences.
This film does highlight some ifficult social issues and I felt that the interaction between mother and son was very well done. it is also a thought provoking film which is also dealing with the consequences of our actions, whether thought out or acting impulsively and how we deal with said consequences. At it's core this is quite a simple story that around half way through the film becomes more and more convuluted and messy as the script starts to head in multiple directions.
There are numerous twists and turns but unfortunately some serious flaws do let the film down somewhat. Despite that, Spain is pushing out some half-decent stuff of late, especially in this genre and this one is no exception. Add in a very unusual ending (which is refreshing from the cookie cutter stuff coming out of Hollywood of late) and all in all this is something a little different that certainly holds your interest.
The acting is above average by all those that matter, especially from Portillo who plays her part brilliantly and while it does admittedly get messy near the end, the script is also reasonable. All other aspects of this low budget film are also reasonable with nothing really needing pointing out or requiring criticism. if you're looking for an entertaining, intriguing thriller type, you could do much worse than giving this a try.
The Sage's Rating: 6/10
We open to a shot of a young boy (Domènech) walking along a dusty road. Shirt torn, pulled out from his pants and covered in blood. A passing car stops and next we see him at the hospital while two police officers question a nurse as the boy refuses to talk. The boys mother (well acted by Portillo), a well know defense attorney (after successfuly defending a client of serious embezzlement charges) arrives and explains to the police that he deaf and mute.
After the police identify a possible suspect but later release him, Patricia (Portillo) is incensed at the police's ineptitude. She contacts her sons father and this begins a series of disastrous events that lead to more and more complicated and unexpected consequences. Her actions to these events just lead to further consequences.
This film does highlight some ifficult social issues and I felt that the interaction between mother and son was very well done. it is also a thought provoking film which is also dealing with the consequences of our actions, whether thought out or acting impulsively and how we deal with said consequences. At it's core this is quite a simple story that around half way through the film becomes more and more convuluted and messy as the script starts to head in multiple directions.
There are numerous twists and turns but unfortunately some serious flaws do let the film down somewhat. Despite that, Spain is pushing out some half-decent stuff of late, especially in this genre and this one is no exception. Add in a very unusual ending (which is refreshing from the cookie cutter stuff coming out of Hollywood of late) and all in all this is something a little different that certainly holds your interest.
The acting is above average by all those that matter, especially from Portillo who plays her part brilliantly and while it does admittedly get messy near the end, the script is also reasonable. All other aspects of this low budget film are also reasonable with nothing really needing pointing out or requiring criticism. if you're looking for an entertaining, intriguing thriller type, you could do much worse than giving this a try.
The Sage's Rating: 6/10