Amigo review.
Amigo is a story about irreparable damage. Physical, emotional and mental damage. The damage done to a friendship is the straw that stirs this drink.
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Amigo
Directed by Óscar Martín
Screenplay by Javier Botet, Óscar Martín and David Paneja
Starring Javier Botet and David Pareja
Amigo Review
Amigo was first screened back at Fantastic Fest 2019. Since then, it’s seen various festival screenings and digital releases around the world. The time has finally come for the US to get a look at an astounding performance within an unescapable hell.
After an accident leaves Javi (Javier Botet) bedridden and a widower…his friend David (David Pareja) takes him into his home to care for him. David escaped the accident with just a scratch on his forehead but finds Javi’s friendship may have been a casualty as well. As winter sets in and David loses access to his medication…he starts to suspect Javi means him harm…and that he isn’t as injured as he lets on.
Most of Amigo is spent locked inside David’s house with the two friends. David dotes over Javi. He cooks for Javi, bathes him, carries him to the bathroom. David answers every request Javi makes when he hears the bell he placed at his bedside ringing. Amigo leaves it up to you if this showing of kindness is done out of love for his friends or guilt over an accident that we aren’t privy to full details on.
When David can’t get a refill on his medication the relationship between the characters begins to change. David begins to suspect that Javi is trying to kill him. Again, Amigo purposely lets us wonder if it is simply because David is off his meds or because of a deep-rooted feeling of guilt over whatever happened. David is convinced that Javi can get up and walk around the house despite never seeing him capable of even turning over on his own.
Pareja plays the slow dissent into this madness very well. The fact that we don’t have answers to David’s questions forces us to wonder if he is losing his mind…or if he might be right. Pareja plays the slow breaking of happiness he finds in being there for Javi in a natural, believable way. It adds another layer of possibility to his slip into paranoia. Perhaps the weight of devoting his life to the care of another person simply has become too much for him.
Botet delivers a knockout performance as the immobilized Javi. Botet is no stranger to genre work as many directors have found great uses for his slight frame. This role is a showcase for the kind of physical performance Botet is capable of. He delivers most of it lying silently on his back. His physicality when having to be carried to the bathroom or simply trying to reach for his bell is extraordinary. There is no moment in Amigo where you don’t fully believe Botet is, himself, suffering through Javi’s pain.
Barely speaking throughout the movie, Botet conveys every ounce of pain Javi feels in his face. Not only the physical pain or the mental pain of being so fully broken…the emotional pain of what he has lost is always there. The anger is there too. Amigo may take a while to confirm that Javi blames David for the death of his wife…but it’s clear from the moment we see Botet’s face. It’s a fearless, physically incredible, performance.
Amigo lets its story develop at a fine pace. Patient, but never slow. It finds its horror in putting yourself into either man’s position. Javi, his body destroyed, heartbroken, trapped in a living tomb with the man he blames for all of it. David, a man who seems to mean well slowly losing his mind as he suspects nothing is quite what it seems. There is sadness, and darkness, inside of the house we are trapped in.
Scare Value
Amigo is a dark movie. What begins as a sweet tale of friendship devolves into a tale of mistrust, madness and wounds that never heal. Led by a mesmerizing physical performance from Javier Botet, Amigo delivers a memorable experience.
3.5/5
Amigo will be in select theaters December 2, 2022. Check the official website for details.
A preview screener was provided by Dekanalog. Special thanks to Ted Geoghegan.
Amigo Trailer
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