Capsule Reviews

The past couple of weeks, I watched a couple of recent foreign-language thrillers which were both absolutely tremendous.  Both are far under the wire for being foreign language, but if you like mystery thrillers, don't let them slip through the cracks.  Check them out. 

First, we'll start with a 2018 Danish movie that I saw on DVD.  It’s The Guilty and is absolutely terrific.  It's also the kind of film I especially like that takes place entirely in one very-contained location.  (Like the movies Phone Booth and last year's Searching.)  It’s about an emergency police dispatcher (like 9-1-1) who gets a call from a woman being kidnapped, and it all takes place in real time at the dispatch office.  In fact, not just at the office, but the first half the film is entirely at his desk.  Eventually he moves into an office for more privacy -- that’s the Big Location Move… -- and the rest of the film takes place there.  It’s only about 90 minutes, done in real time, as I said, and is tautly written and directed.  And remarkably, it takes some surprising turns left and right and goes off into unexpected directions at times.  VERY understated from the police officer’s perspective because he’s trying to stay focused and also keep people calm, though since some of the people on the phone are so emotional and occasionally raw that the film is anything but dry.
 
Thirty minutes in, I was sure the rights had to have been bought up by Hollywood, and it turns out that they were.  I’d think someone in Hollywood would also want to hire the main actor, Jakob Cedergren, who carries the film seriously-impressively, largely acting to disembodied voices and going through a personal hell, but so far the iMDB doesn’t show that to be the case.

Here's the trailer.  It's done well, though doesn't come close to giving the intensity of the film and do it justice.

The other film, which I saw streaming on Netflix (they don't have a DVD available), is a 2016 Spanish thriller  The Invisible Guest.  It’s like a dark, edgy Agatha Christie short story filled with twists and turns. (There's even a secluded mountain retreat, reachable only by funicular). Much to my surprise, I figured out a few of the twists, but not even close to all, most notably its biggest wallops.
 
The mystery centers on a very successful, young businessman on trial after having awakened in a locked hotel room next to his murdered lover,  With a surprise witness about to be brought to court, he and his lawyer now have only three hours to go over the story again and figure out what's been missed in order to discover who actually killed her, why, and how it was pulled off.  The movie (known as Contiempo in the original film). is exceedingly well-done, as it unravels layer after layer, and more memories and surprises keep getting revealed.  Yet everything is laid out pretty fairly for the audience.  (“Fairly” as in “done with fairness.”)  I have to believe someone is smart enough to do a U.S. version.  It’s a no-brainer.

Here's the trailer.  Honestly, it's not especially good, and if you plan on watching the movie there's no need to check it out.  If you're not sure, though, then at least you'll see how stylish the film is.

Two caveats: Don't look up the movie on iMDB because, for some inexplicable reason, there is something there which gives away a bit plot twist.  It's subtle, and many may overlook it, but it's not buried away,  Also, don't check out any YouTube clips before seeing the movie because -- for an unacceptably egregious reason -- someone posted a clip of the last seven minutes of the film!  And after a basic search, it shows up second from the top.