"Predators" is a great psychological thriller that's unpleasant to watch

On February 2, the premiere of the film "Predators" will take place. The film was directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, little known outside of Spain. To work on the film, he attracted a team with whom he had repeatedly interacted: screenwriter Isabelle Peña and composer Olivier Arson.

The main roles are played by French actors Marina Fois ("Asterix and Obelix: Mission "Cleopatra"), Denis Menoche ("Inglourious Basterds") and Marie Colombo, as well as the Spaniards Luis Saera and Diego Anido.

In the story, the French Antoine and Olga buy land in the Spanish province. They quietly run a farm and restore empty houses in the hope that the departed residents will begin to return to the village. The couple's measured life is disrupted when a Norwegian company offers to buy local land at a high price in order to build mills. The French family refuses the contract, preventing the neighbors from earning. Then the locals begin to poison visitors, gradually moving from insults to violence - this is how they try to get the sale of the site.

Incredible tension

From the first minutes, the film demonstrates not only beautiful landscapes, but also the hard life of local residents. But if Antoine perceives his work as something noble, then the neighbors see this as torture. They can be understood - they (unlike the visiting Frenchman) did not choose such a life, they were born into it. It is not surprising that Spanish farmers are ready to sell the land and forget about it like a bad dream. The explainable and most logical conflict creates tension at the very beginning of the film, and the subsequent actions of the characters increase it.

Not in Predators unexpected plot twists, bright fights, chases, shootouts, but he keeps his attention for more than two hours without any problems. Anxiety, fear, anxiety - these emotions are contained in every scene, and great music only emphasizes them. Every dialogue of people who disagree with each other is literally saturated with hostility. And it is worth taking one of the parties to the conflict, how can you immediately hate the other - the semitones are erased due to the principles of the characters.

The image of someone else

The film perfectly shows the principles by which the community of people chooses the “alien”, that is, a priori “wrong”.

After the move, the French were betrayed by their poor command of the language. But gradually their disagreement with other people begins to play a more important role. So, the refusal to sell the house makes you remember that Antoine came from another country and in general the French wanted to conquer Spain - how to talk to him now? Just one contradiction changes the tone from "strange foreigners" to "tyrants" and even "invaders".

The local thinks in the same vein police. Antoine, who wants to end a quarrel with his neighbors, seeks help there. And the law enforcement officers are hinting that everything should stop on its own. And if at first it seems that they refer to certain traditions (they say, you need to drink and have a sincere conversation with neighbor), it gradually becomes clear that they simply do not care about the foreigners who are here settled.

Complexity of communication

Antoine and Olga want to be farmers, while their neighbors are tired of working on the land. If other films teach to find a way to dialogue and a common language, then "Predators" demonstrates that this method does not always work. The characters are so divided in their views on the world that they are simply not able to talk normally. They just don't hear each other.

Violence, which replaces dialogue, is also unable to resolve the conflict. In fact, from the first minutes, all the characters in the picture are doomed to something terrible. They are able to influence their own (and others') ending, but they are not able to escape from it.

An unpleasant sight

With all the advantages of "Predators" unpleasant to watch. If the viewer already in the first minutes begins to empathize with at least one of the characters, then you will have to suffer until the very credits - perhaps even after them it will be unpleasant.

The mainstream taught us that the hero of the film must solve the problem. John Wick will always avenge the dog, and the driver from Driver will help a woman in trouble. In "Predator" these rules do not work, there is no feat in it, which can make the viewer feel uncomfortable.

At the same time, maximum discomfort is what a real psychological thriller should achieve. But if you want to watch a beautiful film that does not spoil your mood, then it is better to pass by Predators.

Predators is a wonderful psychological thriller that points to obvious social problems, but not taking the liberty of solving them. Skillfully crafted conflict, perfectly emphasized by the film crew, makes the picture unpleasant, but extremely honest.