It's saying something when I can guess where a movie is going quite early on. I have mentioned many times that I am most often the viewer who figures out any twist or major plot reveal in a film just as it is happening. Ánimas is such a clumsy and slight film that I figured out what was going to happen as soon as it began. Seriously, people will know the arc of this film before they even press play, especially if they see any of the marketing with taglines that were created by people who have forgotten how to keep things mysterious for anyone who has seen more than twenty or thirty modern thrillers.
Iván Pellicer is Abraham, a young man who has developed a strong life-long bond with Álex (Clare Durant). Maybe it's time for that bond to be broken though. Álex helped Abraham get through his difficult childhood years, to put it mildly, but it looks as if Abraham is ready to leave the past fully behind and try to live a full and normal life. Álex still wants to protect him, but will she eventually accept that there is no more danger around them.
Co-written and co-directed by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño, this is, at best, a film beset by the problems of optimistic amateurism. The screenplay is very weak, especially when it comes to detailing the main plot points, and there isn't enough visual style or creativity to distract from the obvious train tearing down the tunnel to smash into viewers like a, well . . . like a speeding train.
Things wouldn't be so bad if the cast could carry the whole thing on their shoulders, but they can't. Pellicer just isn't a strong enough screen presence to make his moments work. Durant is better, but she would have to be Atlas if she wanted to hold the entire movie on her back. She's not only hampered by her main co-star, but also the screenplay that requires her to speak in a way that pretends an upcoming third act hasn't been blindingly obvious to viewers since the very first moment. Luis Bermejo, Liz Lobato, Chacha Huang, and Ángela Molina help to round out the small central cast, and they're all as ill-served by the film-makers as the leads.
There's nothing here to recommend this, aside from what I hope is a glimpse of the start of a promising career for Durant, despite this being a bad choice for her. The audio and visuals are about as bland as can be, I'd even be critical of editing that fully leans into imagery you expect to be cropping up all throughout the third act, and the whole experience just feels like a waste of everyone's time, from those who made the film to those who end up watching it. It gets a couple of points for being made with some minimal degree of competence and a point for casting Durant, but that is it.
3/10
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