The Chalk Line

Jaula surprises with a mysterious and engaging plot, but fails in the end because it becomes too convenient. Considering the character development, the final events feel more Ex-Machina than natural.

Paula and Simón are returning to their home via the highway. Things are not going well between them. In the middle of the highway, they find a lost girl. The scene itself is overblown just for entertainment and unnecessary tension.

The girl, whom they call Clara, is malnourished and has serious physical and mental problems. Through a plot mechanism, Paula decides that they should stay with her until the Authorities find Clara's parents, or at least find out what's going on.

The plot focuses on the relationship between Paula and Clara, evolving into adverse situations that hurt our conception of Clara. She has post-traumatic disorders that make us doubt her sanctity.

The plot is good, until we find out what's going on. Then things get a little bad. In a long and tedious scene, we have a formal explanation of every plot detail so far, showing us how each event played out from another point of view. Until then, we only had Paula's point of view; adding another point of view in the middle of the movie broke the imagination a little bit for me.

From this point on, things are just too convenient. I don't want to go into details that spoil the film, but I'll just say that everything, while plausible, is a little silly. I'll talk about this topic later, with spoilers.

In the end, the movie is good, satisfying, but these plot flaws force a 7 out of 10. With a little adjustment, I'd say the movie would be a near-perfect thriller, probably the fruit of a novel. In the end, we were left with just one good thriller film, recommendable, but flawed.

**WARNING: Additional notes with SPOILERS**

Paula resolves to confront the villain, unable to recognize the danger she finds herself in. I understand that she is carried away by maternal feelings, but she knows what the villain is capable of after evaluating a suspicious case; at the very least, she should be alert.

The villain, aware that Paula discovered him, does not kill her. I tolerate that, because his motive is plausible, but later not killing Paula is just plot convenience, a ruse so that everything ends well.

These events, added to the lengthy scene that explains the details of how the villain covered it all, lowered the film's rating for me.

If you're looking for high-action, big-explosive Hollywood - this movie is not for you. If you're looking for an interesting story, with a few twist, where you might have to use your brain a bit (it's not crazy difficult to figure out) than I think you'll enjoy this one.

Written in Spanish, with some small amounts of French mixed in, they've done a great job at translating it over for us English only speakers. It's actually dubbed over!! If I wanted to read an entire movie, I'd just read a book.. right?

RECOMMEND: Definitely give it a try. You're not going to find much else out there better than this. Not really a horror movie (a little bit of torture) mostly thriller, edge-of-your-seat kind of stuff. Enjoy!

I'll be honest, this movie is nothing special.

The only two great things I would like to point out are:

• The plot idea on which the film is based, which is remarkably original, although it is surrounded by events that are anything but original, sometimes almost cliché. Nothing astonishing, but it does his job, and that's enough.

• The direction, which manages to keep the viewer on their toes when necessary. Climax moments are well sustained.

Everything else here is mediocre. Some sequences are literally facepalm, while others flow well, and take you to the end of the movie. Some things remain unexplained, and that creates some plot holes. The ending is a bit hasty, though.

Yes, it might test your patience in the beginning. It seems like a slow paced movie,where you don't even feel like doing your guess work. I also have read some reviews on acting of lead roles,but I found them good enough. It might not be a seat edge movie, but gives you that satisfaction of watching a good suspense thriller. Spanish movies has good number of thrillers, sure you won't get disappointed, Dispite being a slow paced movie, if you wait until pre climax it will surprise you enough. It gives you that required plot twist and you'll love the movie once you finish watching it. So I suggest you to go for it!

The main actress has done a tremendous job and the story keeps its suspense intact until the very end. Screenplay picks up its pace in second half, where gradually all your questions start answering themselves. Some would say that the ending went a little overboard with twist but it fitted fine with my idea of an expected adrenaline rush one can expect from a thriller.

The concept and title of chalkline is pretty smart. The investment and effort went behind making it a good movie is pretty evident. Accessing the trauma and abuse is done very thoughtfully. Although the images might be unsettling for few.