Sombras porteñas: A foggy trip into old Buenos Aires

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for black-and-white dramas that feel like they were filmed in a smoke-filled cabaret, you’ll dig this. If you need pacing that matches modern blockbusters, you might fall asleep before the first act finishes. It’s for the folks who like their movies to feel like a faded photograph.

Sombras porteñas is one of those films that just exists in its own little world. It’s not trying to be the next The Phantom of the Opera, thank god. It’s just people talking, singing, and looking sad in corners.

The vibe is everything

The city scenes have this weird, hollow feeling, like the sets were just put together an hour before the cameras started rolling. Sometimes it works! There’s a scene involving a street corner that feels so cramped I thought the actors were going to bump into the boom mic.

Mercedes Simone is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. She has this way of looking at the camera that makes you think she’s bored out of her mind, or maybe she’s just contemplating the heat. It’s hard to tell. I love that ambiguity.

• The music choices are... a lot.
• The lighting makes everyone look like they’re hiding a secret.
• There is a door that squeaks every time it opens. They never fixed it.

There’s this moment where two characters are supposed to be having a major argument, but the background noise is so loud I missed half the lines. Honestly? It made the whole thing feel more real. Like eavesdropping on a fight at a bar.

It’s not a perfect movie. Not by a long shot. The plot kind of meanders like a drunk person walking home at 3 AM. Sometimes it stops, sometimes it turns a corner for no reason. I don't think the writers cared much about a satisfying conclusion.

You can tell when the budget was running low because the shots get tighter and tighter until it’s just eyeballs and chins on the screen. It’s funny how a lack of cash forces you to be more intimate. Way better than the shiny, fake stuff we get now.

Anyway, watch it for the atmosphere. Just don't ask me to explain the ending, because I’m still not sure what happened. 🎞️