The Inevitable Death Of The Crab

There are some interesting ideas in this extortion thriller from actor-turned-director Ahcitz Azcona, not least with regard to the way Mexicans are often depicted onscreen in US-made films, but it would have benefited hugely from either being condensed into a short film, where its tension would be allowed to pack more punch or further developed in terms of plotting so that the padding that is evident here could have been avoided.

The first five minutes, in fact, could almost be an experimental short on their own, as we see a collage of Mexican archive film, which we slowly realise is being watched on a kitchen TV, brought to a crescendo as the kettle boils. It's a moment of tension that everything afterwards struggles to match despite the best efforts of the score from Mario Osuna and strong sound design from Odin Acosta which try to convey building dread in ways that aren't matched by the action.

After that first flurry, the action settles into an altogether more soapy groove as we watch the upper middle-class Carlos Barba (Juan Manuel) Ancona pack his wife and daughter off to the airport with his son Santiago (also played by Azcona) driving. Within minutes, however, his mood is shattered by a call threatening him with menaces unless he pays the caller, a demand he initially laughs off. Paranoia begins to bite when the mystery voice - distorted, of course - rings again. Azcona is demanding a lot of Manuel here, asking him to go from relaxed to stressed out with little to push him there. It's a demand he also makes of himself as, when Santiago comes back, he too receives a phone call, again giving the caller a piece of his mind before, almost inexplicably becoming as paranoid as his father.

Azcona struggles to maintain either the tone or the mood, with comedy undercutting any tension he generates, while the plot arrives in like bits of Ikea furniture in chunks that are interesting once he finally puts them together but surrounded by far too much packaging. The writer/director deserves credit for getting this together on a shoestring budget but it feels as though he has stretched himself too thin by taking on the role of editor as well. Next time out, he should consider the addition of an outside eye. He definitely deserves credit for cute dog casting, however, little Wilson rocks.