SFIFF52: THE PARANOIDS (LOS PARANOICOS)—Critical Overview and Hold Review Capsule

Critical Overview: Featured in TIFF08's Discovery Program and again recently at this Spring's SXSW, The Paranoids (Los Paranoicos) spotlights Daniel Hendler as Luciano, an unmotivated procrastinator, fearsome hypochondriac and unenthused children's party entertainer on a fast track to nowhere. When his successful friend arrives from Spain, he is forced to face his own uninspired existence. At Variety, Robert Koehler kindly granted that "Daniel Hendler's dry and underplayed perf as paranoid numero uno keeps pic afloat and helps its international profile" but ultimately dismissed the film as slack.

Hold Review Capsule: You're heard the saying: "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not trying to bore you"? Or something like that? Argentine director Gabriel Medina's The Paranoids is a clear instance of where the 75-word limit of a hold review is a blessing in disguise. Failing to energize even the most spare of narratives resulted in my disgusted irritation by film's end. Miguel Pendas and I clearly did not watch the same movie.

Cross-published on The Evening Class.