Major winner in the Spanish Goyas, this is another highly attractive film set in the marshlands of Andalucia in 1980.
It works on various levels. One is as a thriller as the two mismatched cops (Javier Gutierrez
and Raúl Arévalo) try to solve a series of mysterious murders in this remote corner of Spain where secrets lie well buried (it is like the Deep South in the US). The thriller part and the piecing together of the evidence is well done and not entirely predictable. 
Then there is a political level: the country is newly democratic again and the strains between the Francoists and the younger generations are also evident especially in the relationship of the two leads. The advent of drug smuggling and prostitution as means of escaping these poor rural economies are also shown. 
The film is well directed and recreates the period and the atmosphere very well. Alberto Rodriguez directs.
★★★★+
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