El hombre que asesinó: Old-fashioned drama in the desert

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you are into dusty, old-world dramas where people talk in rooms for hours. If you want high-octane excitement, skip this one immediately. You will likely find it bored to tears. But if you have a soft spot for grainy, stagey black-and-white cinema from the early days, you might find some charm here.

The whole thing feels like a play that someone decided to film on a Tuesday. There is this heavy, stuffy air of the Constantinople embassy that feels almost suffocating. The lighting is moody, sure, but sometimes I just wanted them to walk outside for a bit.

Antonio Martínez really carries the weight of the film on his shoulders. He has this look in his eyes like he’s tired of every single person he meets. It’s funny because, in a way, I felt that same tiredness by the second act.

The weird stuff

The blackmail plot is the kind of thing that wouldn't last five minutes in a modern movie. Everything would be solved with a text message. Here, it takes an eternity of slow glances and hushed whispers in corridors. It’s almost soothing in how archaic it feels.

I couldn't help but think about how much simpler the stakes were back then. It makes me miss the straightforwardness of something like The Highest Trump, even if this is a totally different beast. You don't get these kinds of slow-burn setups anymore. Everything moves too fast today.

There is a specific scene near the middle where a letter is passed across a desk. It lingers for so long I started looking at the furniture in the background. Is that wallpaper peeling? It feels like the director just forgot to yell cut. It’s weirdly hypnotic.

• The costumes are surprisingly sharp.
• The dialogue is very flowery, sometimes too much.
• Nobody seems to smile. Ever.

It’s not perfect. The pacing is a total disaster if you’re looking for a plot that actually drives forward. It just sort of drifts. Like a boat without an anchor.

Still, there’s something about the commitment to the bit that I respect. They really wanted to make this feel like a high-stakes diplomatic thriller. Even if it feels more like a long, polite argument over tea. ☕

It definitely lacks the punch of La cousine Bette, but it’s got its own strange, quiet rhythm. Not something I’ll watch again, but I’m glad I didn't turn it off after twenty minutes.