Very rare and some boring film about a strange couple who is inexplicably appearing in a sunny desert . Zero, by Iñaki Sánchez Arrieta, is a well-directed debut film, visually attractive and with great performances. A plot plain and simple shot in a shoestring budget about a man called Mario (Juan Blanco) and a woman named Julia (Nuria Herrero) wake up in a strange, deserted and unknown place, surrounded by arid and rocky terrain , not knowing who they are and why they are there. But another man follows his footsteps from a distance. As the days go by and as they try to get out of that inhospitable place, they begin to remember some things that they might prefer not to know. Perhaps Ismael (Josep Selles) has the answers to everything, a man who controls them from a distance, without being seen.
This offbeat and weird motion picture with an unknown cast relies heavily on the interpretation , as only three roles are the main subjects of the flick , while other characters and support actors are mostly many secondaries . It is an allegoric movie because of thought-provoking conclusion final and we don't know the true causes his pain . The film combines suspense , intrigue and drama albeit in an unbalanced way . The heartbreaking story of the leading couple ends up overshadowing the thriller atmosphere of the first few minutes and whose outcome can be somewhat predictable and unsatisfactory for the most experienced viewers . Zerø makes something clear from the first minute of footage, it is the craft and experience of its director Sánchez Arrieta . Competently shot and supported by the great photography work of José Martín Rosete, the film offers a visual spectacle where every shot counts , with spectacular outdoors shot on location in Jijona, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Teruel, Aragón, and Abanilla, Murcia ; adding an attractive musical score by Ricardo Curto . Zerø is a film that appears to be simple, direct and without artifice resulting in a surprising and downbeat finale . Stars Juan Blanco and Nuria Herrero, as an outlandish couple carrying out the full weight of the film on their shoulders . Fortunately for Sánchez Arrieta and for the spectators, the chemistry between the two and their great performances lead to a charming story by gaining in interest enough until that results to be forceful and heartbreaking . Concerning two stories of encounters and disagreements, of love and heartbreak, of beginnings and endings, not necessarily in chronological order, that connect through the dreams of the leading actor. The two stories navigate in parallel although with an unequal weigh . The dramatic charge of the story is imposed as the footage progresses, postponing to the background the climate of suspense that had been created in the first minutes of the film. The ending, although well resolved , reminds us of other films of the genre and therefore , viewers with more movies behind them will be able to anticipate it, cushioning the impact that Sánchez Arrieta seeks with the closure of his story.
This is a nice , enjoyable film and despite being shot in exteriors makes
some claustrophobic and little bit dull . Zero (2020) was professional but uneven directed Iñaki Sánchez . With more than a dozen short films behind him and twenty years in the cinematic career , Sánchez Arrieta makes the most of the experience he has gained as assistant director for filmmakers such as Brian Yuzna (Beyond-Reanimator) , Paco Plaza (Romasanta), Benito Zambrano (La Voz Dormida) , Jaume Balagueró (Darkness), Sigfrid Monleón (El Cónsul de Sodoma) , José Luis Garcia Sánchez (Don Mendo Rock ¿La venganza?) , Belén Macías (Monstruo del Pozo, Family Games), Neri Parenti (Merry Christmas) , José Luis García Sánchez (Don Mendo Rock, Revenge?) or Benito Zambrano (The Sleeping Voice). Zero has been the first step of a director who promises to give us great cinematographic moments . Sánchez Arrieta knows how to bring a story by the writer Ferran Brook to his own terrain, giving it a dramatic dimension that gives depth to the suspenseful atmosphere of the original work .
