Rating: B
Dir: Demián Rugna
Star: Ezequiel Rodríguez, Demián Salomón, Silvina Sabater, Luis Ziembrowski
a.k.a. Cuando acecha la maldad
This gnarly Argentinian possession movie unfolds in a slightly alternate version of the present day. Here, there are procedures in place to handle those occupied by demonic entities. In particular, professionals called “cleaners” come in to dispose of them, in a way which prevents the possession from being passed on. Due to bureaucratic bungling, a “rotten”, as these afflicted souls are known, has been allowed to fester on a rural farm for a full year. When the cleaner is eventually sent, he is killed on the way there and found by neighbours, brothers Pedro (Rodriguez) and Jimmy (Salomon). They decide to take handling the rotten into their own hands. What could possibly go wrong?
tl;dr – everything. The more Pedro and Jimmy try to contain the situation, the worse things seem to get. It’s not just the pair who are put in peril either. Pedro’s ex-wife, who takes care of their autistic son, as well as a daughter with her new husband, is dragged into the circle of events. Nor is it just humans who run a risk of possession, though it appears the demon has a particular fondness for young souls. Hence we get a possessed goat, which leads us to the sequence where it became clear: this movie was not going to fuck around. There’s also a dog which has similar issues. No cats though. I presume it balked at working with a feline. Demonic creatures have limits.
Fortunately, Pedro is able to find a retired cleaner, Mirtha (Sabater), who gets them going in the right direction. However, her arrival does drag the pacing of the movie down, because it’s considerably more interesting when things are going wrong – and the worse, the better, if you see what I mean. On the other hand, it’s hard to empathize much with Pedro, given his wilful insistence on doing things himself. It’s like watching someone attempt to rewire his house based off YouTube videos. There’s only really one way it’s going to end. I’m sure you could probably read a COVID metaphor or something into this. Or just appreciate somebody hitting themselves in the face with an ax. Repeatedly. Yeah, I’m doing that.
I’d like to have been given additional information about the background here. Why is there an apparent government ministry devoted this problem? Is it just an Argentinian or South American thing? I suspect this film is showing us a mere fragment of one corner of the Possession Cinematic Universe. Not necessarily the most interesting part, though what you get here definitely meets the required quota of moments which you will remember. I’m unsure much else will, with performances that seem a mechanism to get the film from one set-piece to the next. The hype had this as easily the best horror movie of the year. As usual, the hype is exaggerated – yet for once, not entirely wrong, I have to admit.