''Retribution'' ( es, El desconocido, links=no, ) is a 2015 Spanish-French

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by Dani de la Torre starring

Luis Tosar Luis López Tosar (born 13 October 1971) is a Spanish actor and musician from Galicia. He is one of the most recognizable and versatile actors in Spain, best known for performances in films such as '' Cell 211'', '' Take My Eyes'', '' Sleep Tig ...

, Javier Gutiérrez,

Elvira Mínguez Elvira Mínguez (born 23 July 1965) is a Spanish actress. Mínguez has appeared in such films as '' La cacatúa verde'' (1990), '' El carro de heno'' (1991), ''The Lucky Star'', ''Tapas'' (2005) and '' El desconocido'' (2015). Her television cre ...

and Goya Toledo. It was screened in the Venice Days section of the

72nd Venice International Film Festival The 72nd annual Venice International Film Festival took place from 2 to 12 September 2015. Alfonso Cuarón served as the President of the Jury for the main competition. A restored version of Federico Fellini's film ''Amarcord'' was shown at the ...

Plot

Carlos is a bank executive with two kids, Marcos and Sara, and a wife, Marta. His kids are getting ready to go to school and he is getting ready to drive them. They get in the car and Marcos brings a soccer ball with an autograph on it because he wants to prove to his friends that he really does have the autograph. After starting the car, Carlos receives an anonymous call in a phone that has been left inside and he is told a bomb has been placed under each of the car’s seats, set to explode if any of them leaves their seated position. The devices will be deactivated only once Carlos transfers a large sum of money into the caller's account. He stops the car near the school to try to figure this out. Some kids from the school crowd around the car, wanting to see the ball with the autograph. Carlos can't let Marcos get out to show his classmates the ball, and his friends think he was lying. Carlos calls one of his coworkers and they say the mysterious man on the phone (who will be referred to as "the stranger") called them too. Carlos and his coworker meet up and discuss the situation, still in each of their cars, blocking traffic. While Carlos drives away, someone in his coworker’s car gets out and the car blows up. Carlos drives past the blown up car in horror, and the stranger orders Carlos to drive away quickly. Marcos is injured in the explosion and Carlos wants to drive him to the hospital, but the stranger won’t let him until he transfers the money. Carlos calls Marta, tells her about the situation, and tells her to go to the bank to transfer the money in her accounts to the stranger’s account. Carlos sits in his car near the bank. Marta shows up to the bank with another person. On the phone, Carlos is stopped by police and is isolated by a bomb squad. He is then told that he must release Marcos and Sarah, but still believes they are in danger. After negotiation with them, they find out there is only a bomb in the front two seats. Marcos still injured by the explosion in his leg is released, but Sara jumps in the front not wanting to abandon Carlos. After some time, Sara and Carlos are visited by a past client, named Lucas but claims to be Carlos's brother Pablo. He tells them he was the one extorting the money over the phone from Carlos for having his wife commit suicide after being coaxed into making bad investments that ruined her economically. Lucas leaves and begins telling him over the phone that a separate bomb he showed them before will go off if Carlos doesn't make an escape to a location where more money can be sent to his account in 5 minutes. Sara and Carlos hastily escape in spite of the behest of authorities until they reach a dock where Sara reluctantly accepts to leave for her safety. Lucas returns to Carlos in the passenger seat and explains himself, Carlos then decides to drive the car into the water in order to escape the explosion. After driving into the water and swimming away, Carlos escapes and is resuscitated by paramedics and is later laid off from his bank job. The final scene includes Carlos on the phone with the new employee in his previous managerial position telling him about a business opportunity, promptly hangs up the phone after the caller states how important family is to a business, hinting at the film's intended message.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Vaca Films and

Atresmedia Cine Atresmedia Cine (formerly Ensueño Films and Antena 3 Films) is the studio belonging to Grupo Atresmedia responsible for producing films. It was created in 2000. History The film production company was created after the enacting of the Spanish ...

alongside La Ferme Productions, with the participation of

Atresmedia Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A., previously Grupo Antena 3, is a Spanish media group, present in the television, radio and filmmaking industries. Significant shareholders include Grupo Planeta and Bertelsmann. On 6 Mar ...

Movistar+ Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television ( Movistar+) in Spain. Movistar ...

, TVG,

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

(France) and R., and the support of , ICAA and . The film was shot in 2014 in

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

Release

''Retribution'' made its

world premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its firs ...

on 2 September 2015, screened as the opening film of the Venice Festival's parallel section Giornate degli autori. The film was also presented on 22 September 2021 at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

. Distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 25 September 2015.

Reception

Reviewing the film from Venice, Guy Lodge 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), ...

'' considered that "pumped up but wholly derivative, Dani de la Torre's bomb-on-wheels thriller makes for an efficient Hollywood calling card". David Rooney of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', considering that the film was an odd choice for the " auteur-driven" Venice Days, concluded that it was "' Locke' meets '

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

,' bypassing originality and plausibility". Rubén Romero Santos of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a Spanish language monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin) ...

'' rated the film with 3½ out of 5 stars, deeming it to be a "qualitative leap" for Spanish thrillers, also considering that "few Spanish films can boast of having the same technical qualities". He however pointed out that the film falters because of its sound.

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan = "17" align = "center" , 2016 , , 21st Forqué Awards , , Best Actor , , Luis Tosar , , , , , - , rowspan=6 , 3rd Feroz Awards , colspan=2 , Best Drama Film , , , rowspan = "6" , , - ,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, Dani de la Torre , , - , Best Main Actor , Luis Tosar , , - , Best Supporting Actor , Javier Gutiérrez , , - , Best Supporting Actress , Elvira Mínguez , , - , colspan=2 , Best Trailer , , - , rowspan=8 ,

30th Goya Awards The 30th Goya Awards were presented at the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel in Madrid on February 6, 2016 to honour the best in Spanish films of 2015. Actor and comedian Dani Rovira was the master of ceremonies for the second time in a row. Nom ...

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

, Alberto Marini , , , rowspan = "8" , , - , Best Actor , Luis Tosar , , - , Best Supporting Actress , Elvira Mínguez , , - , Best New Director , Dani de la Torre , , - , Best Editing , Jorge Coira , , - , Best Production Supervision , Carlos Pérez de Albéniz , , - , Best Sound , David Machado, Jaime Fernández and Nacho Arenas , , - , Best Special Effects , Isidro Jiménez and Pau Costa , , - , 25th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best Film Actor in a Minor Role , , Fernando Cayo , , , , , - ,

3rd Platino Awards The 3rd Platino Awards were presented at the Centro de Convenciones in Punta del Este, Uruguay on July 24, 2016 to honour the best in Ibero-American films of 2015. ''Embrace of the Serpent'' and ''Ixcanul'' received the most nominations with eigh ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Ibero-American Debut Film , , , ,

Remake

German remake '' Don't. Get. Out!'' (2018), directed by

Christian Alvart Christian Alvart (born 28 May 1974 in Jugenheim) is a German filmmaker and screenwriter. Prior to working in the film business Christian Alvart worked in various positions, most recently as a senior editor at Filmmagzin X-TRO. In 1999, he mad ...

, was the first remake of the film. In 2017 it was announced that

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

will star in a remake, in the lead role. A 2021 South Korean remake titled '' Hard Hit'' starred Jo Woo-jin in the leading role, and was directed by .

References

External links

*
Venice Days - Official Selection
* {{IMDb title 2015 films 2015 action thriller films Spanish action thriller films Films set in Galicia (Spain) 2010s Spanish-language films Vaca Films films Atresmedia Cine films Films shot in Galicia (Spain) Films about automobiles Films about mobile phones 2010s Spanish films