This Argentinian drama, written and directed by Lucia Puenzo, based on her novel "Wakolda", maintains a great deal of creepiness and subtle tension throughout. There are also lots of fine and realistic performances by pretty much the entire cast here.
Set in 1960, in the Argentine city of Bariloche, Alex Brendemuhl leads the way here with a understated and chilling performance as Helmut Gregor, a German refugee and physician, and whom we slowly learn may indeed be Josef Mengele, aka "The Angel of Death", for his atrocities and human experiments at the Auschwitz death camp during WW2.
He begins to utilize every opportunity to ingratiate himself with an Argentinian family, who are trying to reopen a hotel, in Bariloche, that was bequeathed to them by a recently deceased family member. The family consists of the father Enzo (Diego Paretti), the mother Eva (Natalia Oreiro), their daughter Lilith (Florencia Bado), who by the way is remarkable in her screen debut, and Lilith's two brothers Tomas and Polo.
Lilith is quite small for a 12-year-old girl, and is being bullied and harassed by her classmates at her new school. She'll become a particular target for the doctor, as he tries to convince her parents that he can help her to grow with an experimental hormone treatment. Lilith and Eva are receptive to his offers , but Enzo is wisely suspicious of the doctor's intentions from the very start. The doctor even tries to win over Enzo by investing in his part-time doll making business.
However, when a local archivist and photographer at the school, Nora Eldoc (Elena Roger), who may also be acting as an Isreali Mossad agent, spots the doctor, she quickly discovers he may indeed be Mengele. Tensions will quickly grow in the town, which is filled with Nazi sympathizers, who even celebrate the birth date of Hitler each year. Things will reach a boiling point when the doctor gets involved in the care of treatment of Eva's newly born twins.
In summary, although there were some plot details that didn't quite add up near the end, I felt overall this movie was very engrossing and, as mentioned, maintained a tone of tension throughout and I would say is certainly worth a watch. By the way, just to mention the cinematography outside of the hotel, with the beautiful lake at the base of the snow capped Andes mountains was truly spectacular.
Set in 1960, in the Argentine city of Bariloche, Alex Brendemuhl leads the way here with a understated and chilling performance as Helmut Gregor, a German refugee and physician, and whom we slowly learn may indeed be Josef Mengele, aka "The Angel of Death", for his atrocities and human experiments at the Auschwitz death camp during WW2.
He begins to utilize every opportunity to ingratiate himself with an Argentinian family, who are trying to reopen a hotel, in Bariloche, that was bequeathed to them by a recently deceased family member. The family consists of the father Enzo (Diego Paretti), the mother Eva (Natalia Oreiro), their daughter Lilith (Florencia Bado), who by the way is remarkable in her screen debut, and Lilith's two brothers Tomas and Polo.
Lilith is quite small for a 12-year-old girl, and is being bullied and harassed by her classmates at her new school. She'll become a particular target for the doctor, as he tries to convince her parents that he can help her to grow with an experimental hormone treatment. Lilith and Eva are receptive to his offers , but Enzo is wisely suspicious of the doctor's intentions from the very start. The doctor even tries to win over Enzo by investing in his part-time doll making business.
However, when a local archivist and photographer at the school, Nora Eldoc (Elena Roger), who may also be acting as an Isreali Mossad agent, spots the doctor, she quickly discovers he may indeed be Mengele. Tensions will quickly grow in the town, which is filled with Nazi sympathizers, who even celebrate the birth date of Hitler each year. Things will reach a boiling point when the doctor gets involved in the care of treatment of Eva's newly born twins.
In summary, although there were some plot details that didn't quite add up near the end, I felt overall this movie was very engrossing and, as mentioned, maintained a tone of tension throughout and I would say is certainly worth a watch. By the way, just to mention the cinematography outside of the hotel, with the beautiful lake at the base of the snow capped Andes mountains was truly spectacular.