Insensibles

In the 30's, a group of children that feel no pain are sent to an asylum to be locked in individual cells to avoid hurting other people and themselves. They stay there along the Spanish Civil War and Second World War. The prominent German Dr. Holzmann (Derek de Lint) tries to rehabilitate the children and has conflicts with the Director Dr. Carcedo (Ramon Fontserè). Dr. Holzmann is fascinated by the boy Benigno, who is the smartest of the group and a survivor.

In the present days, David (Àlex Brendemühl) has a car accident where his wife Anaïs (Irene Montalà) dies and their premature baby survives. He discovers that he has a severe cancer and he needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. He visits his parents and he learns that they are not his biological parents. David seeks out his biological parents and discovers dark secrets from his past.

"Insensibles", a.k.a. "Painless", is a gloomy drama with a promising beginning. However, the narrative is cold, developed in and slow pace and without emotion. The poor development of characters makes the plot confused and boring in some moments. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Insensíveis" ("Insensible")

This could have been an ok horror movie but the historical settings improves it a lot and adds a gloomy feeling to an already dark story.

It's an interesting take on the themes of diversity, political violence and family roots.

The movie is not so much a horror flick, than it is a thriller. Many filmmakers say that, because they don't want to be associated with horror, but in this case I haven't seen any interview with the director, so it's my statement to the movie. You could also call it mystery I suppose.

Of course the movie has two time-lines and you will be able to figure out quickly, which is playing at the moment. It might not be clear from the get go (the connection that is), but you might be able to figure out where this is going way before the final conclusion/confrontation comes knocking. I was expecting a bit more, but the film is still able to reach to you if you let it. And once again, kids can be creepy too ...

Can this film decide what it wants to be? Is it a n unsubtle metaphor for Spanish denial of the atrocities committed during the civil war or is it a dubiously plotted horror? Whichever it is facial gymnastics abound in what amounts to a fantasy (we are asked to suspend so much disbelief) as disposable women swiftly march through the narrative.

Since there was no relevant review about this movie I decided to watch it and do it myself.

"Painless", this is a 2012 film directed by Juan Carlos Medina, this is the type of movie that tells two different stories in two different times and ultimately everything is related (such as Vantage Point).

The first part tells the story of children who cannot feel any pain, especially one called "Benigno", who is a child that stands out from others for having "something very special" and focuses on the years of the 1,930's at the height of the Spanish Civil war, though the trailer may give the impression that this is a movie where there are rituals, Satan and witchcraft (at least that was my impression), after seeing the movie you realizes that the title has a deeper meaning.

And the other part it tells the story of "David" a man suffering from leukemia and needs a transplant of... "something" that only his parents can give him, and when he does he start to revealing the dark past of his family, this part focuses more or less in the year ... 2012?

I gotta admit that there were parts where I was "lost" because this movie is ... well not completely but there are parts where they speak 3 languages​​: Spanish, German and I think Catalan. And although I have no problem with it, because as any fan of the movies I see movies in their original language (even if I do not understand a freaking thing), you can always activate subtitles. Overall the film is filmed very well there is suspense, and there are moments of "what's gonna happen?". I liked to film, though I "shut down" almost at the end of the movie, but I gained strength at the end when "Berkano" appeared, if you want to know what's that you gotta see the movie. I am surprised that it doesn't appeared in Wikipedia or Rotten Tomatoes. This movie reminded me of Guillermo del Toro's "The Devil's Backbone".