Viva — A–Z of films

Tense and twisty, this is what thrillers should be about.

It is as though all the moral ambiguity and mean-spiritedness of 1970s cinema had never died.

Buenos Aires, 1977 is harrowing at times, terrifying at others.

The plotline’s complexity is matched by the depth of the issues explored, with the cast uniformly coming up trumps.

The film takes standard ingredients of a good horror movie - the sinister setting, the horrible crime, the ghostly presence, the newcomer - and uses a surprisingly gore-free, old-fashioned way of scaring the audience.

This odd story is reminiscent of a Beckett play in its compelling sinisterness.

Scores heavily as a mood-driven character exploration of the nature of familial love, duty, conflict and its impact on the innocent.

Lewin and Valenzuela, while undoubtedly very attractive, are ridiculously untouched by their continual romping.

A coming of age drama with a novel twist.

Where we should be caught up in the emotion of a man staring death in the face, we are, instead, marvelling at the sudden clunky switch from Seventies crime thriller posturings to run-of-the-mill prison melodrama.

The kind of debut feature that encourages you to believe that cinema does have a future.

Although, occasionally resorting to stereotypes and cliche to find a laugh, by and large Iglesias script is intelligent and witty.