Séptimo

A subject quite intriguing. A father who lost his two children playing a game that her wife had forbidden: who goes down faster from the seventh floor where they lived. Him by the elevator. Them down the stairs. However, when he reach the ground their children are not there. Suddenly commonplaces became unknown, mysterious. The performance of Ricardo Darin, great in films like Nine Queens and The Secret in Their Eyes, this time is not convincing and does not achieve the level of desperation that reaches for example Hugh Jackman, also as a father of a kidnapped girl in Prisoners, which compels him to cross the border of what is political correctness. Nor Belén Rueda reaches the level shown in The Orphanage where she also gives life to a mother whose son disappears in her own home. The end is resolved too quickly and with serious gaps in the plot. Unfortunately, a very forgettable film.

The 7th Floor is a drama all centered around the worst day in a man's life. It's a tough watch because the stress level is always cranked up, and Ricardo Darin makes his fear downright palpable. From the first moment he loses track of his kids you fear the worst and it feels like everyone is against our protagonist. There's seemingly no one he can fully trust and most of the film is him jumping from one conclusion to the next trying to deduce who is behind this horrible thing. While it did get a bit repetitive and formulaic when he kept pointing the finger at someone else, I was still completely invested in the story. I also wanted to see if things would turn out OK, and if they would ever reveal the identity of the kidnappers (if they were really kidnapped at all.)

The ending of The 7th Floor is handled well, and they do enough to keep you in the dark. What bothered me about the conclusion was how they conveniently ignored or forgot about the long-term consequences of all the things our protagonist does throughout the film. He should be worried about being broke, without a job, and potentially at risk of being arrested. It's all swept under the rug and we're meant to just accept that those details are unimportant. The movie is still effective at thrusting you into the protagonist's shoes, as it made me feel stressed, and always on edge (suspecting every other person of being involved.) I can't say I totally loved it all, but The 7th Floor is still a good film and it's hard to go wrong when you have the great Ricardo Darin in the lead role.

Writer/Director Patxi Amezcua (with Alejo Flah as co-writer) presents this Argentinean thriller SEPTIMO, essentially a two person drama that is powerful and predictable – until the very well conceived ending.

Sebastián (Ricardo Darín) and Delia (Belén Rueda) are divorced, have two children, Luna and Luca, and Delia is attempting to force Sebastián's hand for full custody of the children (the children are happy kids equally devoted to both parents. Sebastián arrives to take the children to school and Delia makes him promise to prevent the children from playing on the lengthy stairs that lead form the 7th floor to the lobby. Delia leaves, Sebastián gives in to the children's pleas to walk down the stairs, and the children go missing. Sebastián is a lawyer and must be in court for an important case, but when the children go missing he spends every moment looking for them – with a bit of help from the janitor and a police officer who lives in the building. Ultimately Delia is notified and the two await information from what appears to be a kidnapping. The children are finally released and the remainder of the film is a conflict that must not be shared in a review. Suffice it to say that the ultimate revenge served to Sebastián's wife is as devastating as the 'kidnapping'.

Darin and Rueda find the right degree of friction and compassion in this well-constructed film. The story has been done before, but this version has true grit – and intelligence. Grady Harp, December 14

A subject quite intriguing. A father who lost his two children playing a game that her wife had forbidden: who goes down faster from the seventh floor where they lived. Him by the elevator. Them down the stairs. However, when he reach the ground their children are not there. Suddenly commonplaces became unknown, mysterious. The performance of Ricardo Darin, great in films like Nine Queens and The Secret in Their Eyes, this time is not convincing and does not achieve the level of desperation that reaches for example Hugh Jackman, also as a father of a kidnapped girl in Prisoners, which compels him to cross the border of what is political correctness. Nor Belén Rueda reaches the level shown in The Orphanage where she also gives life to a mother whose son disappears in her own home. The end is resolved too quickly and with serious gaps in the plot (for example, how did her wife know exactly when will they play that game? It meant that someone had to be perennially waiting behind the door to catch the children? ). Anyway, absolutely forgettable film.

"I'm your neighbor from the seventh floor. My children were coming down the stairs, and I can't find them, I don't know where they are."

Septimo is an Argentinean thriller directed by Patxi Amezcua (25 Carat) starring Ricardo Darin and Belen Rueda. Despite the interesting premise and a promising trailer, I was disappointed with the final result. The only reason I'm giving this a passing grade is because of Ricardo Darin's performance. He is one of the greatest actors from Argentina, and if you haven't seen a film from him I highly recommend The Secret in their Eyes. He is a solid performer and in this weak script he does his best to keep the audience engaged with his character. The only reason I cared for the suspense in Septimo was thanks to his character. I was disappointed with the rest of the cast, especially the child actors who are only on screen to look cute. For the first half of the film I was having a decent time and enjoying the thrilling story, but the resolution and twists in the final 20 minutes or so are very unsatisfying and far fetched. It ruined my entire perception of the film, but I'm still going to slightly recommend it thanks to Darin who always delivers. This is just another example of wasted potential and not knowing how to resolve a pretty decent suspense story. The more you think of the film, the more flaws you will find.

The original screenplay was co-written by Amezcua and Alejo Flah, centering on Sebastian (Ricardo Darin), a lawyer who is currently working on an important case for his firm. Before heading to the office he stops by his ex-wife's (Belen Rueda) apartment to take his two children to school. Delia mentions that she wants to take the kids to live with her in Spain, but he doesn't want them to be so far away. Since the kids live in the seventh floor they ask their father if they can race him down the stairs while he takes the elevator. This is a game they usually play together, but this time the kids never make it downstairs. At first Sebastian thinks the kids are hiding, but they never show up and the building's doorman (Luis Ziembrowski) says that no one came in or out of the building. Sebastian's worst nightmare comes true when he goes up the stairs and doesn't find any evidence of his children's whereabouts. He begins questioning each one of his neighbors, while the doorman explains the situation to a deputy who lives in the third floor. The deputy (Osvaldo Santoro) tells Sebastian that he should remain calm, that they are probably dealing with a kidnapping, but that the police was already investigating the case. Sebastian finally explains the situation to Delia and as time passes the more desperate they become questioning everyone close to them.

The first half of the film managed to keep me interested in the story despite not much character development. The suspense of what had happened to the children was what kept me engaged, but once we got the resolutions and twists it was hard to feel satisfied. Ricardo Darin has played some great roles in films like 9 Queens, The Secret in Their Eyes, and A Chinese Tale, but in The 7th Floor there isn't much he can do. This will probably be one of his most forgettable roles, but he still gives a convincing dramatic performance of a desperate father trying to figure out what happened to his children. He stops at nothing to discover the truth, but unfortunately the truth about this film is full of flaws. The positives about Septimo are Darin's lead performance and the beautiful cinematography which captures some nice views of the city of Buenos Aires. The rest of the film is forgettable.