Drama, thriller, eroticism and violence. An intense film by filmmaker David Vitori, starring Mario Casas and the debut in Spanish cinema , of a beautiful and seductive Milena Smit
Mario Casas is an actor who seems to have enjoyed thrillers in recent years. After his work in 2012 with director Alberto Rodriguez in the phenomenal film Grupo 7, the actor has wanted to experiment in different genres, and prove himself as an actor, either working in dramas like Palmeras in the Nine or under the orders of Alex de la Iglesia in his diabolical films El Bar, Mi Gran Noche and Las Brujas de Zarragamundi.
Toro, Contratiempo, Instinto (TV Series) are some of the projects we have seen Mario Casas do recently. Last year we saw him in the thrillers Adiós, Hogar, El Practicante and this last one you can see in this post: No Matarás, which has been titled Cross The Line for the English-speaking public.
I liked most of the work of Mario Casas, I think he is a good actor, who strives to do a good job. With the film "The Practitioner" he received praise from film critics and the audience liked the film.
In "No Matarás", he puts his talent back at the service of the story, offering us a very intense work.
What is the plot?
Dani Aranda is a good person, he works in a travel agency, he's a bit silly and distracted, he's the typical kind person that everyone else takes advantage of. He has spent his life taking care of his father, who is very sick. When his father dies, his sister Laura buys him a tour of the travel agency, so that he can rest and travel around the world, as he deserves. That night, while eating a hamburger, he meets Mila, a sexy, enigmatic and daring girl. They are totally opposite personalities, but he will be seduced by temptation, not knowing that that night, he will live a total hell.
Never give in to temptation. No matter how beautiful the girl is, and how much you want to live an adventure that you have only had in your dreams, listen to your instinct of caution, because you might regret it.
But Dani's character is a little naive. He's smart, but a little insecure, which makes him easy to manipulate. For him it is incredible that a girl like Mila, wants to have sex with a loser, so he easily falls into the temptation to go where she takes him and accompany her home.
I'm going to reproach the film, the way they meet. All of this seems a bit exaggerated to me, but we've already been shown that Dani is a very nice person, and that's why he doesn't refuse Mila's character's request.
The story goes through the grounds of the erotic Thriller for a moment, showing the game of seduction between both characters, since every time Mila gets more daring, Dani can't resist a woman who transmits eroticism everywhere.
And it is at this moment, dear viewer, when what seemed like a night of dream and pleasure is transformed into an intense story of violence, blood and death.
A normal character, an ordinary and peaceful person, is pushed to the limit and the instinct of survival will make him climb the steps of violence. There is nothing more dangerous than a frightened person, afraid of losing everything, capable of doing anything.
When that radical turn in the plot occurs, the film already has us hooked. And each scene we will live it as if we were next to the main character, with a camera that is always on his character, we will feel his fear, his despair, we will hear his agitated breathing and we will look at the intensity of the violence, increasing.
The whole action takes place in one night, but it will be the most dizzying night of Dani's life, and he will surely never again accept an invitation from a beautiful girl.
The film is directed by David Vitori, a filmmaker who had great success with his short film Reacción in 2008, which was screened at numerous international festivals around the world, and in which the main theme was violence against a woman and the decision of a stranger to intervene or not in that couple's struggle.
The filmmaker triumphed again with his next short film, La Culpa, winning the first edition of the Your Film Festival. He would later continue to make short films and work on a Spanish television series. In 2018 he took the big step and released his first feature film, a supernatural thriller , starring Belén Rueda, with some positive reviews. It was not a great film nor did it have the expected success, but it was her first film and there were signs that the director promised to improve over time. Among other works, he was also one of the scriptwriters of the film Second Origin.
Vitori perfectly transmits all the tension and the scenes of violence are exciting. His work behind the scenes has left me satisfied and I would like him to start working on a new project. He is a filmmaker who has the talent to immerse us in sordid stories.
Mario Casas is the main character, but he is accompanied by an actress who is a new face on the Spanish big screen.
This is Milena Smit's debut as an actress, a girl who had worked as a model in some video clips and fashion shows, but who earned her living as a hotel receptionist. She decided to attend the casting of the film and was selected to play Mila, something that has changed her life. She is currently appearing in the new television series, Alma, distributed by Netflix, a thriller with supernatural touches created by Sergio Sanchez. She is also one of the faces of the moment, for her peculiar dark style and her peculiar beauty. Fame has come into this girl's life, her work in the cinema is quite good, let's hope her next works have the same intensity.
Elisabeth Larena plays Laura, Dani's sister, who is a lawyer working in an important law firm in the city of Barcelona and the only person who can help him. Larena is a 31 year old actress and has worked in Spanish TV series, such as Carlos , Rey Emperador in 2015 and in 2018 she participated in Vivir sin Permiso, the successful series of Aitor Gabilondo, starring Javier Coronado. Last year I saw her in a small role in the film Lost Girls & Love Hotels , starring Alexandra Daddario, which I reviewed.
The rest of the cast are secondary characters. Fernando Valdivieso plays the violent drug dealer Ray, Mila's boyfriend. The actor Javier Mula plays Berni. Also participating are the actors Joaquín Caserza
The film has been nominated for several awards. Mario Casas will compete in the XXVI Edition of the Forqué Awards to be held on January 16, in the category of best actor. And the film has 4 nominations to the Feroz Awards, among them, the categories of Best Film and Best Director.
No Matarás ( Cross the Line ) is a violent, entertaining thriller with a story that I liked a lot. I love violence in film. Perhaps the ending is not what I expected, but the whole journey that the protagonist suffers during one night, which begins as the best night of his life, is transformed into a nightmare from which he will not be able to wake up, because every act has a consequence and Dani will be trapped in a spiral of violence and death.
I recommend this film and hope you like it.
My Ranking: 3.4/5
Trailer
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