El Concursante

This film is part of the 2018 Chicago Latino Film Festival. In addition to being presented in downtown Chicago, with all the other films, this one was shown at a local theater in northwest Indiana. The movie started slowly, but gained momentum as it progressed. This was explained by the attending director afterward, that he wanted to tie in the idea of the central theme of locals of Cartagena, Colombia, standing in line all day waiting for the latest gadget pressure cookers to be released to the public. The people in line interact with each other all thru the film with witty, many times foul humor, getting more and more impatient and agitated as the day progresses. This film was well acted, and directed, had a good, mostly humorous script and plot. The film's somewhat limited music track was very good. However, the film was slow moving for the first half, and the subtitles were not that easy to read at times. Also, the timeline of the film was one day, most of which took place in the line of people waiting their turn to get a pressure cooker. The ending though, which turns the action from a comedy to a violent drama, saves this film.