El practicante

Everything happens in a way you can guess. The movie doesn't surprise or excite you. Still, not that bad. I liked soundtracks.

I don't regret watching, many things did make sense, but some details are quite funny - especially the end of ending, which feels like of another movie. But at the same time, it's not an open ending that leaves with a question "wtf just happened". Watch it, judge by yourself.

The concept is nothing new. But Mario's acting was everything in the movie. From the start we get an impression that the protagonist (Angel Hernandez) is recluse and doesn't like interacting much with people, he is an extremely controlling boyfriend and he suffers from a kind of kleptomania (maybe??) wherein he steals items from the injured people's homes or cars while arriving for help as a paramedic. When he suffers from paralysis his suspicion towards his gf grows stronger to the point he spies on her. In time, his gf finds what he was doing and she leaves him. The rest is kinda disturbing. As I mentioned, the plot is not new but you gotta watch this for Mario's performance. He just lives upto the character right from the start to the end with no remorse or feeling on his face regarding the type of things he did. The 7 stars go to him and of course to the ending. The movie has a good pace and doesnt leave you bored but it doesnt have anything extra ordinary to offer.

The Paramedic is reminiscent of better movies such as Rear Window and Misery, but without sufficient character development, it just feels like an exploitation film, heavy on violence and narcissism. A great deal of the tension generated here is sustained by the fact that the director establishes early on that Angel (an ironic name) is without morals, a guy in the healing professions who routinely steals from the injured and dead. We know that no internal ethics will interfere with his revenge scheme. He won't hesitate to murder anyone who gets in his way. He won't feel remorse or mercy, or change his mind about the evil he is doing, so nothing he does, no matter how vile, surprises us. Implausibility is high as people keep warning Angel they're going to call the police instead of just going ahead and calling them. Most implausible is that Angel, like a Mafia boss, has his own crime cleanup squad on call for getting rid of pesky bodies. All of this leaves little room for nuance and doesn't allow the mounting tension to ever let up, making this simply unpleasant and difficult to watch rather than engrossing, as a thriller ought to be.

After weeks of trying to find a good film on Netflix (having watched almost all the decent ones) I finally came across this gem. A hugely enjoyable Spanish psychological thriller that I was glued to throughout - and a few unexpected plot twists along the way. Really enjoyable movie (there are actually a few really good Spanish thrillers on Netflix if you take the time to find them). Disturbing, creepy, suspenseful, good acting, good camera work and a fantastic ending. At times disturbing to watch, but that's why we enjoy psychological thrillers, isn't it? I give it 8 out of 10.