El sustituto

The film is set mainly in the summer of 1982. A young and hardened police officer, Andrés (Ricardo Gómez), from the toughest neighborhoods of Madrid accepts a posting to a small fishing village, hoping to cure his sick daughter and gain some peace of mind in the process. Once there, Andrés forms a professional relationship with another police officer (Pere Ponce) who suffers from cancer and becomes involved in a romance with the doctor (Vicky Luengo) who treats him. Meanwhile, he will be involved in the investigation of the strange murder of the inspector whom he is now supposed to replace. Investigations lead him to a group of elderly Nazis who live a heavenly and happy retirement on the coast.

An interesting film because although the central plot is fictional, many of its individual elements in relation to the activities of the Nazis are real, in fact many of them remained on the Levantine Coast, in this regard it is worth mentioning the Nazi hero 'Otto Skorzeny' who lived a prosperous life in Spain. The essential thing is that the suggestion of his story, inspired by real events, remains unchanged, and that his links are not only with the past. In fact, in an interview director Óscar Aibar stated that four films could have been made with the material he collected about the Nazis in Denia. However, Aibar bases his narrative on long flashbacks and focusing mainly on the friendship between the two main roles, and on Andrés' romantic relationship with a doctor, without analyzing and explaining in depth the political collusion. He focuses rather on creating a narrative rhythm interspersed with its ups and downs and which initially captivates the viewer, but which after the first half hour surrenders to the comforts of the script, with too many events and plot twists. It eventually shines thanks to an agile narrative, some acceptable action scenes and a good recreation of the eighties era, being filmed in Dénia, Alicante, Valencian Community. However, the film lacks the necessary narrative economy, so it does not tire itself in the repetitiveness of many scenes, focusing heavily on the relationship between Andrés and Columbo, and that is why it is not necessary to see Andrés always with a bottle in his hand to understand that he is an alcoholic, it is not necessary to see Columbo constantly coughing to remember that he is seriously ill; you don't have to watch Andrés' wife become incredibly irritating to justify her affair with the doctor. As if this were not enough, at the end melodramatic situations and some unnecessary car chases are added, in this case between a sports Mercedes and an old Seat, trying unsuccessfully to emulate typical American action films. Along with the leading trio who give a good performance, there is a good plethora of supporting characters, such as: Pol López, Joaquín Climent, Nuria Herrero, Bruna Cusí, Guillermo Montesinos, Marta Poveda and special mention for the veteran Susi Sánchez. The film shines in all the technical sections, with top-level professionals, such as cameraman Alejandro de Pablo, and adding an exciting as well as evocative musical score by Manuel Roland.

"The Replacement" describes an alarming and terrifying reality with the persistence of pro-Nazi cells in many European countries, but it does not have the weight to make a deeper analysis of the phenomenon. Still only a superficial representation and subject to the stereotypes of the action thriller, the existence of Nazis in the modern world is much more entertainingly developed in films such as 'Odessa', 'The Children of Brazil'.

The film was professionally written and directed by Oscar Aibar, although it has some failures and cracks. Oscar is a craftsman who has directed some decent films, all of them with special and sufficiently interesting themes, dealing with all kinds of genres, such as Spaghetti/Science Fiction: ¨Atolladero¨, Fantasy: ¨El Bosque¨, Thriller: ¨Rumors¨, and Comedy /Drama: ¨Platillos Volante¨, ¨El Gran Vazquez¨ and ¨La Maquina de Bailar¨, the last two starring Santiago Segura. Rating 'El sustituto' or 'The Replacement' (2021) : 6/10, acceptable and passable. The film will appeal to fans of Spanish thrillers.