The Goya Murders Explained

Native Name:
Nolink:yes
Director:Gerardo Herrero
Producer:Gerardo Herrero
Screenplay:Ángela Armero
Cinematography:David Omedes
Editing:Teresa Font
Music:Vanessa Garde
Language:Spanish
Distributor:A Contracorriente Films

The Goya Murders (Spanish; Castilian: '''El asesino de los caprichos'''|links=no) is a 2019 Spanish-Belgian crime thriller film directed by Gerardo Herrero and written by Ángela Armero which stars Maribel Verdú and Aura Garrido alongside Roberto Álamo, Ginés García-Millán, Daniel Grao and Ruth Gabriel.

Plot

A couple of police investigators with different backgrounds and antagonistic personalities (Carmen Cobos and Eva González) track a serial killer who starts to leave a trail of crime scenes mirroring the scenes from Francisco Goya's Los caprichos in Madrid.[1]

Production

A Spanish-Belgian co-production, the film was produced by Tornasol and Los asesinatos de Goya AIE alongside Entre Chien et Loup, with the participation of RTVE and Movistar+ and support from ICAA and the Madrid and Navarra regional administrations.[2] It was shot in Madrid, Pamplona and Brussels.[3]

Release

The film screened out of competition at the 52nd Sitges Film Festival in October 2019.[4] [5] Distributed by A Contracorriente Films, The Goya Murders was theatrically released in Spain on 18 October 2019.

Reception

Raquel Hernández Luján of HobbyConsolas scored 58 out of 100 points ("so-so"), considering that "its anticlimactic script squanders a visually appealing" premise, assessing the Verdú and Garrido duo to be the best thing about the film, while citing the focus on a personal debacle instead of the police subplot, the characters making stupid decisions and the "disappointing" ending as the worst elements about it.[6]

Mireia Mullor of Fotogramas rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, highlighting the tandem formed by Verdú and Garrido as the best thing about it, while resenting the inability to deliver "anything more than a cliché-filled thriller".[7]

Francisco Marinero of El Mundos Metrópoli scored 2 out of 5 stars citing the presence of very skilled performers as a positive point, while pointing out at "a contrived plot with countless clichés of the genre" as a negative point.[8]

Janire Zurbano of Cinemanía gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, considering that it "is predictable from its approach to the composition of its characters", yet it manages to entertain, "while the talent of the Verdú-Garrido tandem does the rest".[9]

Javier Ocaña of El País underscored the film to be "entertaining, it has a good pace and some interesting points" yet, in addition to certain unevenness in the supporting performances, the result falls short because of the stereotypes and the plot predictability.[10]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Los estrenos del 18 de octubre. ‘El asesino de los Caprichos’. 15 October 2019. Aisge. Alberto. Úbeda-Portugués.
  2. Web site: ‘El Asesino de los Caprichos’ – estreno en cines 18 de octubre. Audiovisual451. 17 October 2019.
  3. Web site: Cartel, en primicia, de 'El asesino de los caprichos'. Fotogramas. 18 July 2019. Juan. Silvestre.
  4. Web site: Maribel Verdú aterra a Sitges amb “El asesino de los caprichos”. Diari de Terrassa. 8 October 2019. Jordi. Guillem.
  5. Web site: Goya en el Festival de Sitges. La Razón. Carlos. 7 October 2019. Pumares.
  6. Web site: Crítica de El asesino de los caprichos, con Maribel Verdú y Aura Garrido. HobbyConsolas. 17 October 2019. Raquel. Hernández Luján.
  7. Web site: Fotogramas. Mirea. Mullor. Crítica de 'El asesino de los caprichos'. 18 October 2019.
  8. Web site: El asesino de los caprichos: Admirador perverso. Metrópoli. El Mundo. Francisco. Marinero. 17 October 2019.
  9. Web site: El asesino de los caprichos. Cinemanía. 14 October 2019. 20minutos.es.
  10. Web site: Clase alta, clase media. El País. Javier. Ocaña. 18 October 2019. Javier Ocaña.