Publisher: CinemaSerf March 15, 2024
Now there are a few rather daft plot holes here, but in the main this is a really strong prison drama anchored well by Luis Tosar and Alberto Ammann. The latter man ("Juan") is on an orientation visit to a high security prison were he is shortly to begin work when a full scale riot breaks out. That is being led by "Malamadre" (Tosar) and it's only by luck - he had had an earlier accident and was recovering in cell 211 - that he isn't taken hostage like two of his soon-to-be colleagues. He's quite a quick thinker and thanks to him being slightly bloodstained, manages to convince their new boss that he's just another new inmate. Make no mistake, though - he is treading a very fine line as not everyone believes him, and as the negotiations begin in earnest he knows it is going to prove increasingly more difficult to help diffuse this scenario and stay in one piece. Meantime, the authorities are making quite an hash of things on the outside - and that rather shambolic operation leads to a tragedy that causes "Juan" to completely rethink his loyalties! What's actually more effective here is the dialogue and quite intense style of photography. Violent and angry it is, yes - but these prisoners are victims too. Their protests against a brutal regime of solitary confinement have long since fallen on deaf ears, so this action is quite literally their last resort - just ask the previous occupant of cell 211! Tosar is impressive as the slightly more sophisticated thug and as the two men work together, a bond - of sorts - begins that might ultimately be the only thing that keeps any of them breathing.