MSFF MOVIE REVIEW: MARSHLAND (LA ISLA MINIMA)


4/5

In 1980, Detectives Huan and Pedro are on the case of two missing girls in the Spanish Deep South. Huan is a hot-head young detective, banished from the big city for his insubordination. Pedro is an old regime cop, crumbling by the burden of old sins from the reign of Franco. Two men, who belong to different eras, have to work together to catch a serial killer before he strikes again.

MARSHLAND cannot escape a comparison with an American show TRUE DETECTIVE. Just like the HBO TV hit, the characterisation and the atmosphere are put far above the actual murder mystery, which may be simplistic, but a very realistic one in the end. 

The movie has a grainy look, a  few quirky aerial shots and some good acting. It uses all the tools of TWIN PEAKS and THE KILLING, but it is a comparison you'd want. Besides, it looks damn fresh in the marshland Spanish outback. The mystery may be secondary, but it does not stop you to enjoy watching it unravel.  The film uses familiar story pushing it into some new territory and asking a question: what heinous things may surface on the border of a political and historical change.

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