O Quarto Passageiro

Alex de la Iglesia's black comedy -mosty filmed on the Castilian highway and at the Hotel Marqués de Riscal- dealing with a crazy road movie, being well paced, competently played and delightfully entertaining . Alex de la Iglesia turns a thriller/comedy in his sui-generis style . At his 50 Julian (Alberto San Juan) , divorced and with a money problem, uses 'BlaBlaCar' app to share car to travel Madrid. Falling in love with Lorena (Blanca Suárez) , an usual passenger and now he wants to take advantage of the next journey to confess his feelings for her. However, he makes a mistake when choosing the remaining occupants, the annoying Rodrigo (Ernesto Alterio) and fastidious Sergio (Rubén Cortada). So his problems begin when in a travel two strangers join with them.

Black comedy, bemusing situations , and rare roles by offbeat filmmaker Álex De La Iglesia who wrote as well, along with his customary screenwriter Jorge Guerricaechevarría. Álex de la Iglesia brings us a very mixed bag of outlandish characters, rapid dialogs , and absurd situations in a luxury car. De la Iglesia goes back to the black comedy terrain of previous works, focusing on the relationship among four off-the-wall roles. A disconcerting road movie combined with a romantic comedy, being an austerily enjoyable and brightly colored film. It can be very funny and very moving at the same time, so it was the perfect combination for me. This is a peculiar and fun flick in which Álex establishes again his uniquely breathtaking and visually striking style. A madcap road movie that boasts a nice and attractive cast. Enjoyable interpretations from Alberto San Juan as a divorced 50-year-old man with cash problems who resorts to using an app to share his car, Blanca Suárez as his undercover love interest, Rubén Cortada as the good-looking, free-spirited young man and special mention for Ernesto Alterio who steals the show as the deranged, troublesome passenger who will spark a dramatic change in the course of events .

This black humored picture was competently directed by Álex de la Iglesia produced in his New brand of horror films he calls ¨The Fear Collection¨ along with his wife Carolina Bang, in fact , the character played by Alberto San Juan bears certain resemblance to Álex, because he's a divorced man, as De La Iglesia who recently married a woman twenty years younger, Carolina Bang herself; similar to Blanca Suárez and Alberto San Juan, both of whom are indeed separate 20 years from each other. As has become common in Álex de la Iglesia's filmography , this new entry swings between humour , thriller and tension, in this case in the guise of a hilarious road movie combined with a romantic comedy and joining fine actors who have previously worked with the Basque filmmaker, such as: Ernesto Alterio and Blanca Suárez in ¨The Bar¨. Alex De La Iglesia is a cool director who has got much successes, such as: ¨Accion Mutante¨ ,¨Dying of laughter¨ or ¨Muertos De Risa¨ , ¨Baby's room¨ , ¨Oxford murders¨ , ¨Balada Triste De Una Trompeta¨ , ¨Perdita Durango¨ , among others. This is without a doubt a thrilling and agreeable movie to be enjoyed for dark humor buffs and Alex De Iglesia fans , the Spanish king of black comedy . Rating : 6/10. Acceptable and passable. Well worth watching.

Álex de la Iglesia, renowned for his mastery in suspense and horror, seems to have taken a detour with "El cuarto pasajero," a film that unfortunately falls into the category of predictable Sunday comedies. The movie, despite its potential, lacks the originality and suspense that fans have come to expect from De la Iglesia's work. The storyline is straightforward, and it becomes evident early on what the outcome will be, leaving little room for surprise or engagement.

The cast, including Blanca Suárez, Alberto San Juan, and Ernesto Alterio, are talented actors, yet their performances are overshadowed by a script that doesn't do justice to their abilities. It's puzzling why they chose to participate in a project that does not fully utilize their skills. The film's humor and romantic elements feel forced and lack the wit that could have elevated the narrative.

In summary, "El cuarto pasajero" is a forgettable entry in Álex de la Iglesia's filmography, lacking the depth and creativity that typically characterize his films. It's disappointing to see such a talented director and cast involved in a project that fails to leave a lasting impression.

It is a good idea, no original but no that bad. Movie starts fine but then it goes down from one unreal situation to other. Predictable and, most of the time, boring. Who has watched "The Day of the Beast" from the same director, will be highly disappointed. This is not witty at all. Situations are unrealistic, but not in the funny instant-classic way of the movie before mentioned. On the contrary, everything is predictable and gags go on and on endlessly, without any kind of planning. The lack of preparation and care of this product is so obvious.

If you want to watch a Spanish movie, with a shared car story, try "Dime dónde viajas". It is not a very good movie but at least, story is more compelling and the main character more interesting. Also there is a bit of mistery that goes on and some references to songs and popular Spanish culture. In this product, on the contrary, you can find nothing of that, bed scenes, love scenes, action scenes are mediocre. I give a 5 because it is watchable but, the 1hour 35 minutes seems to last forever, just one hour is enough to tell this story that goes to nowhere.