The Wait

A thriller about a family tragedy and revenge in which the emotions don’t work and which, with the later revelation of unexpected facts, turns out to be a religious sermon about atonement for making bad decisions: Failure to be guided by one’s conscience is a greater sin than not having a conscience at all. With the combination of its setting, theme and religious dimension, the film is very much tied to Spanish culture, which may be the reason that it left me cold as a northern European atheist. On the other hand, I can imagine that in the hands other conscience filmmakers, it could have been a culturally universal and effective drama with an interesting concept. It’s only a matter of the creative approach and the ability to tell a story for everyone (in the manner of American cinema). Two and a half stars [Sitges Film Festival] (10/13/2023)