El silencio de la ciudad blanca

35 minutes into the film the audience is told who the serial killer is. And I mean us, the viewers, not through the main character or the investigation, only us, we're told for no reason, no purpose, and no benefit. Unbelievable.

After that, the film doesn't get any better. The characters are poorly developed, a lot of things are left open and/or unexplained and it is obvious the whole time that you're viewing a (bad) book adaptation.

I've noticed that the terrible reviews seem to come from people watching the dubbed version of films on Netflix. The lazy or stupid who cannot read subtitles have no clue as to the true storytelling and acting presented to them.

This is no Silence Of The Lambs, but well worth of watching if one can actually read subtitles while viewing.

This Spanish thriller is centred on the hunt for a serial killer; each time he strikes he kills two people; one male one female. Each pair of victims is from a wealthy family and five years older than the previous pair. His crimes mirror those that happened twenty years previously; the man accused of those crimes is in prison but is due to be released soon. Policeman Unai López de Ayala, a skilled profiler, is put in charge of the case; his first since returning to work after the death of his wife. He works alongside younger female officer Estíbaliz Ruiz de Gauna.

I enjoyed this film although in the already crowded serial killer genre it doesn't feel enormously original. There are some nice ideas such as there being pairs of victims each time and a disturbing yet novel method of murder. We are told the identity of the killer, and their connection to somebody close to our protagonist fairly early on so there isn't really a mystery about who is doing it; just a question of why, and how they will ultimately be stopped. I liked our two investigators; Javier Rey and Aura Garrido impress in these roles. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too. Everything looks good with impressive locations; both indoors and outside. Overall a decent enough addition to the genre; not a must see but still worth a watch... just don't expect it to be up there with 'The Silence of the Lambs'.

These comments are based on watching the film in Spanish with English subtitles.

This is the adaptation of the first book of a trilogy. I think that people who have not read the books will have some trouble to follow the film. It is a very weak and dissapointing adapation which leaves outside some of the best things of the books: for example, the grandfather, one of the greatest carachters, only appears in one or two very brief scenes. The relation between Unai and Alba does not translate well to the screen. The rich traditional background you have in the book comes very superficial here, and so happens with the investigation itself. Also, having the "big mistery" revealed 20 minutes into the film does not help.

Generally all (acting, music, script...) is quite forgettable and superficial and lacks the magic the books have. In my opinion, it could (and should) have been made into a TV series, not into a movie.

The trailer promised oh so much but the film failed to deliver. The gothic surround centering on the lover themed murders was impressive along with the scenery but the characters and acting fell flat. You knew who the killer was from a early stage, it was a case of seeing how the main characters wove into his sick plans. The murders were very predictable with no change in his method of execution. There has been some excellent Spanish Crime Films over the last decade sadly this didn't fit into that category. Netflix best work has been international Film &TV this let the side down a bit.