+++ Opinion +++
With the exception of various Klopper films – from Jackie Chan to Bud Spencer and Terence Hill – For a long time I hardly watched any films that were much older than myself. That was until I took Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Window to the Yard” with me from the university library. What should happen? In the worst case, I am bored for almost two hours and have at least closed one educational gap afterwards. But nothing there!
I had never seen a perfect film, but this was one – and to this day he’s the only one I’ve watched right after the credits! In the weeks that followed, I ran a regular Hitchcock marathon where the Master of Suspense straight up to my favorite director.
Ever since then, I’ve had a weakness for intricate, well-written thrillers that, well done, are hard to beat for suspense. You can see one of those, which “Hitch” probably couldn’t have done much better, this Sunday, September 4th, at 8:15 p.m. on Tele 5: “The Invisible Guest” by Oriol Paulo (“Julia’s Eyes”). Anyone who missed the broadcast can watch the repeat on TV on September 5 at 11:20 p.m. – or grab Blu-ray, DVD or VoD right away.
›› “The Invisible Guest” on Amazon*
Adrián Doria (Mario Casas) is young and successful. But the businessman’s life is turned upside down one day when he wakes up next to the corpse of his lover Laura (Bárbara Lennie) – in a locked hotel room. The evidence is clear: Adrián is the murderer and should soon be convicted.
When a witness testifies, the case seems as good as lost – until suddenly retired lawyer Virginia Goodman (Ana Wagener) comes to Adrián to offer him her help. Can she save Adrian from jail? And if he’s not the killer, who is?
“The Invisible Guest” works like a Swiss clockwork in which every cog, no matter how small, meshes perfectly with the next – and is full of details that only work when they are precisely coordinated. You don’t even get the time during the film to see exactly how everything was constructed here, because from the start you’re just too busy trying to figure out what the hell happened in the hotel room.
Director Oriol Paulo repeatedly plays with the viewer’s expectations and, with strong twists, ensures that you keep changing sides during the course of the film – and keep your fingers crossed for one and then for the other. Big, big thriller cinema from Spain that stays exciting until the last minute!
*The link to the Amazon offer is a so-called affiliate link. If you make a purchase through this link, we will receive a commission.
This is an updated re-release of an article previously published on DashFUN.
