''Neon Flesh'' ( es, Carne de neón, links=no) is a 2010 neo-noir thriller with comedy elements film directed by

Paco Cabezas Paco Cabezas (born January 11, 1978) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter, best known for directing '' The Appeared'', '' Rage'' and '' Mr. Right''. Career In 2007, Cabezas wrote and directed Spanish language horror film '' The Appeared ...

which stars

Mario Casas Mario Casas Sierra (born 12 June 1986) is a Spanish actor. He rose to fame in Spain with the television series ''Los hombres de Paco'' (2007-2010), and later in the film ''Three Steps Above Heaven'' (2010). Early life and education Casas was ...

alongside

Vicente Romero Vicente Romero Romero (born 8 February 1987) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right midfielder. Football career Romero was born in Valencia. A product of local Valencia CF's youth academy, he only appeared once for its first team, ...

Macarena Gómez Macarena Gómez Traseira (born 2 February 1978) is a Spanish actress. She became known for her many roles in fantasy and horror films. She plays the iconic role of Lola in the television series '' La que se avecina''. Career Born on 2 February ...

Blanca Suárez Blanca Martínez Suárez (born 21 October 1988) is a Spanish actress. She is best known for her performances on television series '' The Boarding School'' (2007–10), '' The Boat'' (2011–13), and the Spanish Language Netflix series' ''Las ch ...

, and

Ángela Molina Ángela Molina Tejedor (born 5 October 1955) is a Spanish actress. Aside from her performances in Spanish films, she has starred in multiple international productions, particularly in a number of Italian films and television series. Family Mol ...

. It is a Spanish-Argentine-Swedish-French co-production.

Plot

Upon his release, Ricky reunites with his mother, Pura, who has been working as a prostitute to make ends meet. Pura has been saving up money to fulfill Ricky's dream of opening a brothel, but when she is killed in a car accident, Ricky decides to honor her memory by fulfilling his own dream and opening a high-end brothel. Ricky enlists the help of his former cellmate, Angelito, and his friend, Carlos, to make his dream a reality. Together, they set out to acquire the necessary funds and equipment to open the brothel, but soon find themselves in over their heads when they become the targets of a powerful and violent criminal gang led by the ruthless El Chino. As they struggle to keep their business afloat and stay alive in the face of danger, Ricky and his friends must confront their own past mistakes and personal demons. In the end, they must make difficult choices and take drastic action to protect themselves and the ones they love. Overall, Neon Flesh is a gritty and suspenseful film that explores themes of family, loyalty, and the consequences of our actions.

Cast

Production

The film is based on a short film of the same name directed by Paco Cabezas. Some cast members from the short film reprised their roles in the full-length film (notable exceptions were

Óscar Jaenada Óscar Jaenada Gajo (born 4 May 1975) is a Spanish actor. Career Jaenada began acting at the age of thirteen, performing in Shakespeare plays. The memory of his grandmother taking him to the Rívoli Cinema made him want to become an actor, ...

and

Victoria Abril Victoria Mérida Rojas (born 4 July 1959), better known as Victoria Abril, is a Spanish film actress and singer based in France. She is possibly best known to international audiences for her performance in the film ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' by ...

, respectively replaced by

and

). A co-production among companies from Spain, Argentina, Sweden and France, the film was produced by s Morena Films alongside Jaleo Films, Oberon Cinematográfica, Mandarin Films, Hepp Films and Pensa&Rocca, with the participation of

Canal Sur Canal Sur ('South Channel') is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA), the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this region by an Act of Parliament in its statute of autono ...

, TVC, TVV, TVG, and ETB. Shooting locations in Spain included

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

whereas shooting locations in Argentina included Belgrano (Buenos Aires). Crew during the Argentine part of the filming used masks due to the

2009 swine flu pandemic The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, is the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Span ...

alert.

Release

The film was presented at the

Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

on 9 October 2010. Distributed by Vértice Cine, it was theatrically released in Spain on 21 January 2011. It opened in Argentine theatres on 21 February 2013.

Reception

Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' assessed that the "hugely entertaining" film "reps crude, violent, flashy and sentimental fare, but with a sharp, intelligent edge that gets it out of jail".

Jesús Palacios Jesús Alejandro Palacios Olague (born 7 February 1983) is a retired footballer, who played for Club Universidad de Guadalajara in the Liga MX. Career Born in Monterrey, Palacios began his professional football career with local side Tigres UA ...

of ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó a ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars highlighting the honesty of the proposal whilst pointing out its "cinephagic naivety", assessing that "however irregular it sometimes appears,

t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

one of the most refreshing Spanish films of the year".

References

External links

''Neon Flesh''
at ICAA's ''Catálogo de Cinespañol'' {{authority control 2010 thriller films 2010s Spanish-language films Films shot in Buenos Aires Films shot in the province of Seville Spanish thriller films Argentine thriller films Swedish thriller films French thriller films Features based on short films Films directed by Paco Cabezas 2010s Spanish films 2010s French films 2010s Argentine films 2010s Swedish films