jrgirones

Yes, the ressemblances to "Stranger Things", "Suburbia" and so on are evident from the very start, but fortunately this achieves a life of its own thanks to deft and clever narrative (it grabs you even if the plot rings familiar and it has the guts to end in a way that's hardly predictable), high production values despite working with an indie budget and - crucially - convincing acting from all the kids (Rich Sommer is very effective too as the ambiguous neighbor). Kept me very entertained all the way and the end was a distinctive plus. If you previously enjoyed the films that inspired this, you may still check it out... It's a delight of a thrill ride.

Satire about the miseries of a bunch of wannabe actors and celebrities, filled with increasingly dark humor and some funny one-liners. Its aesthetic choices and particularly its score are surprising at first because they are very reminiscent of a thriller, but at the end I found them to work very well by contrast and matched the darkness at the core of the story. All in all, quite inspired and enjoyable.

The majority of critics have been unfair to this movie. This is a nice homage to the classics of the terror genre and to the world of Lovecraft. Aficionados will enjoy the references with delight.

The story is well told and interesting enough, and though it leaves some loose ends (the second installment will see the light on October), the main story (told in a large flashback) concludes in a spectacular climax that is something to be seen.

The production values are top notch.

The only setbacks are some pieces of dialog, too long and literary, that drag the pace in the middle section.

All in all, this is a remarkable first feature from director José Luis Alemán.