The Hidden Face

Don't see the trailer if you are just to see the movie because it will give you all the clues you need to to figure out what is going on!

La Cara Oculta is a typical mystery Spanish movie,where you see what is going on in present time at the first half and on the second, the back and forth scenario takes place in order the mystery to be solved.

It is not the best Spanish movie out there but it is the right one if you want to enjoy yourself for a night,alone in your house!

The house in this movie is the leading role!so watch out!

I don't wanna say any more 'cause I will ruin the story.So do not read reviews and do not see the trailer,just put it on your DVD and enjoy yourself!

This Colombian film - quite rare in European cinemas - has a good suspense source, enabling to create a thrilling story about love and its related topics (jealousy, faithfulness, yearning, etc.), visible is rather extreme circumstances. Regretfully, the first half or so is quite plain and protracted, and contains questionable plot elements, e.g. why the police looked on the disappearance matter so seriously. Inclusion of Nazi topic into a Latin American society is not fresh either. True, there were some interesting twists, but the very end could have been more concrete or revenge-related, the current one created a kind of vacuity, no quivering.

Characters seems realistic, but apart from Clara Lago as Belén, there were no catchy performances, preferable particularly in case of events happening in limited space. But all in all, La cara oculta is a far-above-average thriller, with its duration of less than 1,5 hours.

LA CARA OCULTA starts out mediocre, with dialogue that seems cranked out by a ten year old without much imagination -- "Hi, how are you? Good and you? Good, thank you. Would you like something to drink? Yes..." And so on. TV soaps have better dialogue.

Quim Gutierrez' performance is at best lacking. He has two facial expressions that actually look very similar. And Martina Garcia reminds me of Jessica Alba in terms of her looks and her bare minimum acting skills.

I thought the movie might be a bust until, half way through the film, Clara Lagos shows up and the movie becomes a heart-pounding thriller with top notch acting and a series of fascinating and very creepy twists.

My advice: stay through the first so-so hour and you won't be able to turn it off.

And yes, Quim Gutierrez should have rehearsed the role of an orchestra conductor better and...

DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILER!

Movie begins slow and seems to be shallow love drama, but somewhere in the middle a surprise awaits you that will justify your patience. It's hard to give even brief summary without spoilers. I strongly advise you not to read reviews nor in any case watch the trailer, because the essence of this psychological drama is in the horror you feel when you finally realize what is actually going on and later in quite predictable, but no less terrible plot twist. Acting and directing are good, and excellent music perfectly contributes to the stressful atmosphere of the movie. Huge recommendation.

8,5/10

A Spanish orchestra conductor (Quim Gutierrez) deals with the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend (Clara Lago).

I wish that IMDb had half stars, because I was torn between a 7 and an 8. I usually reserve the 8 for the top notch films, but this film was just so close to that mark I feel bad giving it a 7. Definitely one of the most suspenseful films in recent memory.

The imagery is solid, the terror real and plausible. There is nothing in this film that could not happen in real life, and if you dread isolation, starvation or claustrophobia... this may bother you. It is a very strong film with no perfect characters -- the emotions here are also real and very mixed, just like real life.

I was a little torn on the nudity and sexuality. At first, I felt it was a bit much. But as the film went on, I realized that the nudity was not there for an exploitative reason and actually plays an important role as the film goes on. (I cannot really explain further, but I will say it adds to the emotional trauma.) I am grateful to Fox World Cinema for picking this one up -- a real gem.