When I think of twisted crime movies, Shutter Island, Memento, and Seven come in mind. That being said, one may left himself trying to grasp the final scene. Throughout in the middle of the story, it’s either confusing or revealing. Either way, it’s intolerable. The Invisible Guest has the same approach.
The Invisible Guest (in Spanish title: Contratiempo which litterally means “setback”), is a Spanish film, whose main actors are Mario Casas ( Adrián Doria), Ana Wagener (Virginia Goodman) and Barabara Lennie (Laura Vidal) and Jose Coronado (Tomas Garrido). The film was released in 2016 but I just rencently stumbled that. Gladly, it did not fail to make me satisfy my hunger in mystery-thriller genre.
Not to mention, their unrelenting acts pulled me closer and made me curious about the narration. Honestly, it’s hard to connect owing to language barrier, but I still preferred to hear their actual voice and read subtitles than relying to English dub. The consolation was that the sound background gave an impulsing and intense effect. Okay, let’s dive into it.
The deadly sins.
The plot goes with conversation between Adrian and Virginia. Adrian was allegedly murdered Laura and he made confessions with Virginia, his defending lawyer. Adrian is a sucessful businessman. His character is perceived to be ambitious and respectable. He’s not perfect though. Being a married man, he had an affair with Laura who is married to another man. An accident changed their life forever. It was ugly and fatal. The interwovening connections from Adrian’s narrations and it’s consistency, can easily fooled anyone. He is innocent, or is he not?
The point of view in this film intetionally draws solely in Adrian’s. It is as if I ask him questions to find answers, yet I find myself being in his position. Maybe because how the lawyer use reverse psychology in questioning. It’s intimidating.
Playing tricked by a lawyer
Virginia is notable and respectable lawyer. I can’t faulter her straight face, resounding words of wisdom, smart choice of words, and method of questioning. Unconsciously, she’s manipulating how Adrian should respond to every questions.
There’s no trick questions, but straightforward one. It happens that Adrian’s position is crucial and he is desperate. That is where Virginia exploited him.
Unravelling the truth
There are different truths presented in this film. Adrian’s truth, to shield from murder case. Laura’s truth, which is based only in circumstancial evidence that contradicts Adrian’s statement. Then, there’s the truth in between which is not about the case of Adrian. Are you curious? You may check IMBD’s synopsis.
There’s the dark horse lurking around and it’s obvious but Adrian’s case is one great diversion. That’s crazy.
Adultery and lies are hard to take apart. Laura and Adrian’s case brought it to next level. Adrian’s last confession, litterally shocked me. However, in the final scene, it’s clear which triumph over lies and deception and which case will bring to justice. Which brings me to realization of the English title, The Invisible Guest.
Busy and Chill 