Friday, October 6, 2017

El Bar
(The Bar)

Pelikula: Spanish Film Festival
Cinema 1, Greenbelt 3


This intriguing thriller explores how people's fears can reveal who they really are. A game of survival unfolds among perfect strangers who find themselves trapped inside a typical Spanish bar/resto after a fatal shooting occurs once one of them leaves the place. Suddenly, it seems the streets outside the bar is bare of any movements and it is emptied immediately following the shooting.

As we learn more about the people inside the bar, the whys and hows they happen to be in that specific place, the film takes on a somber tone. The mystery further permeates as bits and pieces of information slowly surface regarding the real reason they are stuck in that tiny enclosure.

At the beginning, the film unfolds at a fast pace as intrigue envelops the plot/story line. It was like living out a nightmare in real life - a situation where you cannot find any solace nor solution to the problem at hand. 

It is terrifying yet at the same time, as the mid part slows to a dragging pace, you suddenly see how absurd and ridicule the whole situation, really is.  Towards the anti-climatic conclusion, you can't wait to end the misery of the last few characters as well as your own.

It is a fairly good thriller to watch but do lower your expectations. 

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