El Ascensor (2021) User Reviews

Nice try.

[faer_kr · 5/10 · 18 January 2021]

An attempt at dramatic comedy. It's about a couple having an argument in an elevator and it becomes a time loop repeating the same thing. Exactly the formula for "Happy death day", "If I don't wake up." Quality. A collaboration between Spain and Mexico. Nothing relevant in the performance. What he tries to do is talk about relationships and that problems are always fixed by talking, the problem is that, he stays in the attempt. The justification for the time loop is just as silly and implausible as certain things that happen. Half of the movie is fine, after half it falls apart. The audio y is interesting and well handled, some elevator effects are not. Avoidable.

Boring!

[salomdiego · 4/10 · 5 February 2021]

The first half hour is interesting. The camera works well. Then is just plain boring. Jusy stick with grounghog day

Strange and unsatisfying

[mjcarter73 · 6/10 · 25 October 2021]

The plot of this movie is a std timeloop idea- an elevator that resets to its statting point and time, the 10th floor everytime it reaches the ground. I enjoyed this film- maybe because the Spanish hid some of the creaky bits others have identified, but I was left unfulfilled by the ending. Spoliers here**** The lift was apparently engineered as a time machine by a former caretaker of the building- continuing experiments that had been banned from his previous job (unspecified). Powered by lightning, the experiments are a failure as the lift becomes a time loop machine endlessly recycling its journey from floor 10 to 0. Its inventor becomes trapped and eventually dies in the lift operating room. Before he expires he derives a "manual escape system" but like launching nuclear missiles the physical design of the lift means that it requires two people to operate it. Sadly he has noone and fies trying.

Some time later a lightning strike reactivates the lift which starts its new occupants, an arguing couple taking out the rubbish, on an endless cycle of time loops. Through iterations and pauses they discover the control room and the dead inventor, they operate the manual system and escape... but do they? Here the film really fails because nothing is explained. The manual system starts a strange countdown- but to what? The doors open and the couple exit talking to themselves and apparently ignoring their surroundings. The finally discard their trash and the film ends with a shot of lightning hitting high rise buildings then panning to close with a close up of their rubbish- So??? Is this simply showing the couple have literally and metaphorically disposed of their baggage and are moving on in life? Surely thats too trite an ending for a film which was obviously considered deeply? Perhaps there's a clue from the wider shot of the hi-rise buildings. The couple spoke many times of the age of their lift- an 80s structure presumably then installed in an 80s building? There seems little that is 80s about the buildings shown at the end, massive highrises and once again lightning. Might the manual solution not have simply released the occupants, but restored full time machine function? There is no obvious signs of the futur other than these buildings and the couple are oblivious to any differences- but its night-time and its raining. There are no clues in the (to my mind inexplicable) close up of the discarded rubbish. My opinion- the film-makers were either too subtle or simply missed a trick, but this ending really does leave you unfulfilled. If anyone has a definitive interpretation please let me know!

Avoid

[gonzalouc · 3/10 · 1 March 2021]

There are several movies about elevators pretty entertaining, this is no the case, also the elevator music is absolutely annoying

Worst movie I've seen since Vacation(2015)

[pazortegaandrade · 3/10 · 28 January 2021]

Avoid this.

You will have a better time staring at the wall than watching this movie.

Around 75% of the movie, is about a couple fighting about their relationship, the rest is plot towards solving the "mystery" of the time loops. There's 0 deepness about their situation, about time, about relationships... non... ZERO depth.

Pointless

[justahunch-70549 · 2/10 · 29 January 2023]

If you're on this site you pretty much know what this film is about. A young romantic couple enter an elevator and become caught in a time loop and cannot get out of the elevator. They fight, they cry, they fight, they love, they are severely injured, they fight, they are not quite that romantic, they learn truths about each other and if this film has any real focal point, that would be it, but if so, it doesn't work due to a frustrating ending. This film is very short, thankfully, with two actors that are okay, I guess, but the characters they play are insufferable, particularly the male. There have been a lot of time loop films since Groundhog Day, some good, some bad. This would not be in the good group. The writing is really poor.

Fun, an alternative groundhog day

[simonclif · 8/10 · 4 March 2021]

I enjoyed this despite the reviews. Having lived in Spain I felt the characters were very authentic and charming. Worth a watch