Hierro

"Hierro" is definitely worth a watch. It is by no means perfect -it is slow-paced, too slow-paced at times; it has random scenes and seemingly random characters that could have been further exploited; the nightmarish, surreal atmosphere that is hinted at in the first scenes never quite comes to fruition-, but it is a captivating experience for a viewer. Ultimately, what makes this movie a little sea pearl is the depth and the realism of the emotions that it conveys, mostly thanks to a stellar and very inspired Elena Anaya, who deserves every praise as the actress that carries the weight of this drama on her shoulders, and pulls it off masterfully.

In "Hierro", Elena Anaya stars as María, a young mother to 5-year-old Diego. On a ferry journey to the small Canary island of Hierro, Diego vanishes and no trace of him can be found. The first part of the movie is probably the best -we see the young mother whose life is centered around her only son, and then we witness her despair at her loss, and her fruitless attempts at recovering some kind of normalcy. These sequences in particular, with María bordering madness, are especially well-done. One day, María gets a call from the police in Hierro, asking her to return in order to check the identity of a body that could be that of Diego's. Back in Hierro, María will continue her quest for the lost son, in the middle of a desolate -but extremely beautiful- natural setting, and colorful but hostile locals...

While the story doesn't flow as naturally as desired, I never found it hard to follow, nor boring -I was mesmerized by the powerful emotional journey of this mother and for the mysteries that she finds along her way. The ending is very fitting and well-done. The final answer to the young mother's plight and whether it can be predicted or not doesn't matter as much as how she gets there and all the difficulties that she has to surmount, which made this a perdurable story in my mind.

My rating is 8/10.

El Hierro is (compared to Tenerife or Gran Canaria) a less known and much less populated island in the Canary Islands. This movie tells the story of a woman who loses her 5 year old son on a ferry trip to that island. The police search leads to no result. Later she finds that her son was not the only kid who is missing, and she begins her own investigation if anyone is abducting children maybe?

I got hold of this Blu-ray rather accidentally (in a 'buy two, get one free' deal), which proves that sometimes the best things are for free. This is a recommendable little thriller, deliberately keeping the story simple, so it can put the emphasis on atmosphere and pictures. Having been to the Canary Islands several times, I'm surprised one can shoot such a dark picture in these sunny places. 'Hierro' is about the fear and anxiety of its main character, so we are talking about psychological thrills here and not a maniac with an axe. The makers put El Hierro to great use insofar as you can run for miles without meeting anyone. Talking of running: Horror movie fans should go elsewhere, but anyone who likes a tasteful dark movie with style, give it a try.

Fantastic score, beautiful cinematography and good acting by Elena Anaya - all ruined by a bad script.

The score carries some similarities to "The Machinist" (the composer here was the orchestrator on the latter), including what sounded to me like a Theramin - and was simply too good for this film. At one point it sounds very similar to Mozart's Requiem. Together with the cinematography, it reminded me of the atmosphere of "The Machinist".

The only thing I didn't like about the cinematography is the use of digital camera, which was very obvious in numerous points throughout the movie.

'Hierro' is a suspenseful film about a woman whose young son disappears while on a ferry underway to an island off the coast of Spain. She starts a desperate search on the rather desolate island with bare rock and sparse vegetation, with a few reclusive and unhelpful people staying in caravans.

This story cleverly links with the drama of another child's disappearance after a car crash, a few years earlier.

This is a well-crafted film with excellent acting, and cinematography. At times it seems a bit too sentimental, but given the subject matter, it is hard not to get emotionally involved. A film worth watching. 7/10.

There are quite a few good movies from Spain, covering the horror thriller. This one starts really good and has awesome cinematography and really good actors. Still in the end, it doesn't completely deliver on the premise.

One of the main problems being, that it too foreseeable, but still tries to build upon a twist, that you can see coming a long way, before it actually gets revealed in the movie. The hints are there of course and it is pretty nicely done. Maybe if this is your very first thriller, you might be a bit more excited. But all in all, you can watch this, just be patient with the movie and enjoy it's setting and the "view".