Los Parecidos

1968 was a turbulent time in both Mexican and United States history. It was a time of great sociological unrest, when authority was questioned, and social protests became prominent. While the United States lost Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr, the Mexican government used its power to suppress political opposition from innocent students leading to a massacre in Tlatelolco during the reign of president Diaz- shortly before the 1968 Olympics.

I bring this up only because it serves as background for Isaac Ezban's fascinating and imaginative second Science Fiction film- "The Similars".

Setup- 8 people find themselves stranded at a bus station during a devastating rainstorm only five hours outside of Mexico City. But this is no ordinary storm, nor are the news reports that come in. This rain contains a lot more than just water.

The cast of characters are comprised of an old man on the verge of retirement, a pregnant woman on the run, a medical student, a mother and her handicapped son, and a few significant others. As with his brilliant debut film- "El Incidente", the characters seem inconsequential to the story. They are used merely to examine the human condition when put in a position of extreme circumstance.

As the story unfolds, we witness a strange phenomenon. Each character, by way of a bizarre seizure, wake up no memory and the same face. As expected tensions arise, characters become desperate for answers, paranoia takes over, and violence- including a few deaths. The student fears the government is involved. Others believe it's the Devil. An old native Aztec woman has an opinion too, but nobody can understand a word she says. This is only the premise. No Spoilers.

Could one of these characters hold the secret? Is there some sort of cosmic game taking place? Can fantasy become an uncontrollable reality? One character actually does, my only fault with the film. It wasn't needed- the setup was fascinating enough. There is dark humor throughout this film, which Ezban delivers- tongue in cheek. I won't spoil the surprises. This is a fun, imaginative journey into Science Fiction. While his feature film "El Incidente" was explained within the context of abstract spiritual realism, this story has it's dots well connected and unfolds with perfect timing.

The film's main metaphor is - what does man become when stripped of his identity? That was in question that tragic day in Tlatelolco in 1968. Somehow, the military forgot that individuality can not be compromised, and there are dangers when our identity is suppressed in favor of forced conformity- in other words- when people are forced to "All Become The Same" (tagline). The fact that Ezban used a Sociological equivalency to his Sy/Fy story shows that this Director may become a true future visionary in the world of modern day Cinema.

The direction of Ezban, along with the cinematography of Isi Sarfati, leave the film with a real 60s look and feel. Yes, this is very much Ezban's tribute to Rod Serling's - The Twilight Zone - with a unique twist by Ezban that Serling would have loved. Like great Writers and Directors, Ezban's story is fun, fascinating, and totally original- and just when you think you have the film figured out, he throws us the proverbial curve ball and dares us to hit it. Don't be misled by the trailer. Violence is kept to a minimum. On imagination alone, I give this a rating of 8/10.

"Os Parecidos" set out to be a thriller and went beyond that. It's a thriller from the start, set very well in 1968. That decade was a promising one in the development of suspense by the Alfred Hitchcock school and it seems that the Director wanted to use those elements of the time in his work "The Similars", which turned out very well.

The soundtrack is reminiscent of the thrillers of the decade in which the film is set (1968). But "Os Parecidos" also has mystery, delirium and a hint of the "fantastic" or supernatural. In short, a very well-produced Mexican movie that keeps the suspense and mystery until the 'supernatural' or fantastic begins.

The 'four' stars (and not five) is because, for me, the mystery of the story, the author of the work, gave it away early in the course of the movie, ending the mystery, but this does not detract from the recommendation for those who like classic suspense in the style of Alfred Hitchcock.

Congratulations on the whole piece!

I really liked this movie! There will be zero spoilers here; I'll be getting straight to the point.

Where horror films are concerned, I'm beyond weary of the seemingly endless stream of remakes and reboots coming out of Hollywood. For years I've been waiting for someone — ANYONE — to start thinking out of the box and create something original. Finally, the writer/director/producer of "The Similars" did just that. His name is Isaac Ezban. Remember it... because I have a strong feeling that Guillermo Del Toro will be getting a bit of home-grown competition on 'the horror front' before too long.

'The Similars' is sort of a 'period piece' that's set in 1968, with the Tlatelolco Massacre hovering over it like a dark, ominous cloud from start to finish. (If you're unfamiliar with the incident, Google it.) This movie is also a tribute to the horror classics of the 1960s. Interesting and attention-grabbing from the start, it straddles the fence between 'bizarre' and 'comically absurd' before then veering straight into 'old-school horror' territory with a rather unexpected sci-fi twist. If you want or need to know more? Track it down and watch it. Seriously. The less you look into this movie ahead of time, the better. Allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised.

The Twilight Zone: It's a Good Life (1961) where "on an isolated family farm, a young boy with vast mental powers, but lacking emotional development, holds his terrified family in thrall to his every juvenile wish."

Only this time Rod Sterling (1924-1975) was replaced by Isaac Ezban in the Mexican knock-off were "On the rainy night of October 2, 1968, eight characters waiting on a remote bus station for a bus heading to Mexico City start experiencing a strange phenomenon."

Because this took place in one location of a bus station it could adapt easily to a stage play.

It has a lot of hairier ending.

In case you're a huge fan of nostalgic Sci-Fi/horror movies from the fifties and sixties, or an admirer of landmark and genre-determining TV-series like "The Twilight Zone" or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", then "The Similars" is undoubtedly the best motion picture you'll see this year (and probably in the next few years to come). I'm a tremendous fan of the aforementioned decades and titles and I instantly knew I wanted to see this one as soon as I laid my eyes on the fantastic old- school film poster, what with its lovely use of green shades and its illustration of a hysterical face covered in bandages. The poster seems to come straight out of the sixties, and so does the entire movie, in fact. Writer/director Isaac Ezban was present at the Brussels' International Festival of Fantastic Films, where I watched it, and openly declared his love and devotion for the genre as well as his fascination for all the external influences, political and social, that were processed into the screenplays of the movies back then. Ezban tried to do the same with "The Similars" and I can easily confirm that he succeeded, since the story he invented here is easily one of the most original and imaginatively refreshing ones I've seen in a long time. In the fall of 1968, in a little village that is located in five hours driving distance from Mexico City, a handful of people are stranded in an old bus station. They are desperately waiting for the next bus, but it won't come since all public transport is disrupted due to the unusually heavy rainfall. Some more people strand at the station and via the radio they learn that the rain showers apparently form a worldwide issue and the drops might even be acid. Inside the station the tension mounts between the stranded passengers and inexplicable phenomena start to occur. The people's faces gradually begin to alter and look exactly like the face of Ulises, the man who arrived at the bus stop first. Álvaro, a fanatic med student on his way to the protest mars in the city, is convinced that Ulises is part of a secret governmental experiment, but given strange nature of the events, it's far more likely that paranormal forces are at work. Isaac Ezban, with the help of his wonderful ensemble cast of course, truly brings to life some essential aspects of sixties' cinema, most notably the Cold War paranoia, the ominous atmosphere as well as the consecutive series of inexplicably supernatural occurrences. To give just one example, the scene where the baffled characters discover that not only their own faces but also those in magazines and on wall posters is a masterful slice of cinematic craftsmanship. Of course, and inevitably, "The Similars" isn't entirely without flaws. Sci-Fi flicks from the old days as well episodes from "The Twilight Zone" were particularly effective just because they only had running times of around 60 minutes or even less. Although not exaggeratedly lengthy, "The Similars" occasionally feels a bit tedious and, especially when reaching the finale, overlong. Ezban also has a few issues to properly explain all the mysterious events near the end and all too easily ends his film with a stern voice-over reciting a kind of text like "some things in this universe simply can't be clarified". On the other hand, that's typically old school Sci-Fi as well! "The Similars" is a very good and joyful movie to watch, preferably amidst a large crowd (for example a festival) where you can share your amazement at some of the plot twists with fellow genre admirers.