El practicante

I don't regret watching, many things did make sense, but some details are quite funny - especially the end of ending, which feels like of another movie. But at the same time, it's not an open ending that leaves with a question "wtf just happened". Watch it, judge by yourself.

I started watching and and it didn't take long before the main character's behaviour gave me the creeps. The movie centers around him handling his new life with paralysed legs and the resulting frustration about it, which he works out on his girlfriend. Him being stuck at home also worsens his already existing jealousy towards his girlfriend which ultimately gains the upper hand.

His actions constantly made me curious about what he was going to do next and I liked the suspenseful atmosphere that was created. Mario Casas puts down a good performance here. Not all the things happening in the movie are realistic but overall I liked the movie. Not as bad as some reviews here are saying.

The Paramedic is reminiscent of better movies such as Rear Window and Misery, but without sufficient character development, it just feels like an exploitation film, heavy on violence and narcissism. A great deal of the tension generated here is sustained by the fact that the director establishes early on that Angel (an ironic name) is without morals, a guy in the healing professions who routinely steals from the injured and dead. We know that no internal ethics will interfere with his revenge scheme. He won't hesitate to murder anyone who gets in his way. He won't feel remorse or mercy, or change his mind about the evil he is doing, so nothing he does, no matter how vile, surprises us. Implausibility is high as people keep warning Angel they're going to call the police instead of just going ahead and calling them. Most implausible is that Angel, like a Mafia boss, has his own crime cleanup squad on call for getting rid of pesky bodies. All of this leaves little room for nuance and doesn't allow the mounting tension to ever let up, making this simply unpleasant and difficult to watch rather than engrossing, as a thriller ought to be.

If you wish to watch something to disturb your mind in just a medium level, then you should give this movie a try. We all love Casas' brilliant acting and gesture here, it is all that worth in this movie. The characters and the background are all nicely wrapped, as well as the ending that gives us slight twist of the two main characters' relationship going forward. What's missing is the storyline that should gives us more originality with that kind of complicated bond between them.

At a normally comfortable 94 minutes, this one felt much longer. I can't put my finger on any one reason, because the pacing was ok, which usually is the issue.

There's a lot going on, almost too much that I feel is unnecessary, and there just isn't enough suspense until the last quarter of the film. The tittle, The Paramedic, really doesn't suit the story, and even being one in this film was really just filler. I'd rather some emerg doctor cross the street, get hit by a car, and then get the ball rolling with the main acts.

The casting and performances were quite good, and the directing was decent, but this thriller needed more thrills. It's a good one-time watch if you've nothing else to watch.