The Invisible Guardian Movie Review (El guardián invisible, 2017) – First Film of the Baztán Trilogy
The Invisible Guardian (original title El
guardián invisible) is a Spanish Thriller
from 2017, directed by Fernando González
Molina and the first of the Baztán Trilogy.
In it, a detective gets back to her hometown
to investigate a series of murders.
Hello, there!
I’m dos Santos, and this is Ulven Reviews,
with Movies and series from all over the world
and all eras.
Today’s review is of the first movie of
the Baztán Trilogy, “The Invisible Guardian”.
Before the review, I would like to ask you
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Stay tuned for the reviews of the two remaining
films of the trilogy.
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Let’s get going.
After working for the FBI, Amaia Salazar (played
by Marta Etura) is back to her country, working
for the Police of Navarre in Pamplona as an
inspector.
Then a body is found in Baztán, her hometown,
a one-hour-drive from Pamplona.
It’s a clean, naked corpse of a teenager,
with the palms up and a txantxigorri on the
genitals.
Txantxigorri is a little cake typical of the
Navarre cuisine,
homicide of innocent pigs.
It uses their fat and fried pieces, with other
ingredients to make the pastry.
We also taught how to make Feijoada in this
channel, if you’re interested, check the Macunaíma
review.
Amaia and her husband James (played by Benn
Northover) go to her Aunt Engrasi (played
by Itziar Aizpuru).
There is also living Amaia’s sister, Rosaura
(played by Patricia López Arnaiz), who’s
going through a divorce.
Officer Jonan (played by Nene) and the inspector
find enough similar cases to determine they’re
dealing with a Serial Killer.
So the two engage in an investigation that
might even involve the bakery administered
by Flora (played by Elvira Mínguez), the
oldest sister of Amaia.
The Invisible Guardian and the whole Baztán
Trilogy is based on the noir novels written
by Dolores Redondo.
She also wrote The North Face of the Heart
(La cara norte del corazón) a prequel to
the trilogy, still without a movie adaptation.
Right now, let’s focus on the first one.
The plot pleased me, despite some inconsistencies
with reality.
It’s compelling, full of dimension that includes
a rich back-story for the leading character.
The focus of the film is both on the investigation
as in the protagonist’s life.
There’s also little pinches of folkloric supernatural
element, that end up having its relevance
and even give the movie its name.
The investigation is straightforward, without
many suspects and some very categorical clues.
There are some aspects of the serial killer
that didn’t convince me much, for example,
the spam of years without killing.
They came up with a justification for it,
but I didn’t feel it was a realistic one.
The characters are a little bland.
One of my favorites is Sub-inspector Jonan,
who shows to be a very competent assistant
to the lead investigator.
Sadly, there’s not much of him in the movie.
There’s also Aunt Engrasi, she is great, the
typical role of a caring granny.
My sympathy for Amaia was more for her story
and protagonism than her personality.
She doesn’t show a lot of it in this first
movie, and her interactions with the two worst
characters don’t help at all.
James, Amaia’s husband, is just there, he’s
actually the character who usually were exclusive
of women, as the wife who whines about how
much the husband works.
It’s a shit character regardless of gender.
However, when it’s a woman it’s worse because
there’s the misogyny aspect on top of the
awful role aspect.
But the worst of them all is Aloisius Dupree
(played by Colin McFarlane), who’s an American
mentor for Amaia.
He simply didn’t need to exist.
Maybe in the sequels he has some importance,
but in this first, he’s useless.
I don’t have anything to say about the acting,
really.
Everyone is good enough, very competent, and
professional level, but no one was demanded
from the bland characters.
I just hope it gets better in the other installments.
What makes the movie stand out to me was the
atmosphere of it, fitting perfectly with this
investigative thriller.
Starting with the awesome location.
An old, small town, surrounded by woods and
with frequent rains.
The cinematography is also excellent in every
single aspect.
The colors match the tone and enhance the
gorgeous shots of the environment.
There are darkness and forces of nature, like
the already mentioned rain, and the fog, but
we’re never let in complete darkness.
However, what I liked the most about the cinematography
were the camera movements.
They were visually compelling and put us in
the point of view of the characters in essential
moments.
My favorite one is a flashback of Amaia’s
childhood, which helped immensely feel empathy
for her character.
Now the cadavers.
I believe they were dolls, and I liked them
a lot.
They were a gruesome sight because they’re
dead girls, but they’re not exposed just for
the shock value, but to show how the killer
was meticulous.
On top of that, they were really well made,
especially the wounds.
The score is among the things that built the
perfect atmosphere.
It’s not amazing, it’s good and matches the
movie well.
However, one song stood above the others:
Espérame En El Cielo by Antonio Machín.
It’s an old song that gives a haunting aspect
in the way it’s played in the film.
I love investigations.
I watch true-crime shows, fictional movies,
and series.
So, my interests plus the outstanding atmosphere
of the movie resulted in a very positive experience
for me.
I would definitely recommend this film to
anyone, but especially for those with the
same interests as me.
The Invisible Guardian is a dark, mystery-thriller
with a fascinating atmosphere, the type of
movie I love.
The flaws weren’t enough to put me off, and
some might have been corrected in the sequels.
We’ll see.
I’ll give The Invisible Guardian, 8 Moons.
That’s it for now.
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of the trilogy.
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See you in the next video.
