Towards Darkness (2008)

Cast and Crew

Director

Producer

Screenwriter

Starring

• Roberto Urbina
• America Ferrera as Luiza
• David Sutcliffe
• William Atherton
• Cameron Daddo
• Tony Plana as Carlos Gutierrez
• Alejandra Borrero
• Carlos Valencia
• Roberto Cano
• Fernando Solorzano

Movie Story

The son of a Colombian banker, photographer Jose (Roberto Urbina) lives abroad in New York . While visiting his family back home for the Christmas holidays, he is reunited with a streetwise old flame (America Ferrera) and reacquainted with the casual violence that mars his country. Within days of his return, Jose is beaten and kidnapped, his captors demanding an exorbitant ransom from his parents. Aware that the local police would do more harm than good, Jose's frantic parents enlist the aid of a covert American special operations team to recover their son alive. Jose's father (Tony Plana) is soon forced to make an unsavory deal with a Colombian warlord in order to secure the million-dollar payment. Meanwhile, Jose remains bound, gagged and blindfolded in an abandoned warehouse in the rainforest, contemplating what he assumes is his imminent murder. The lives and backstories of various characters converge in a slick non-linear narrative that humanizes each one: from the rescuer (David Sutcliffe) looking for redemption for a past killing, to the kidnappers driven to crime out of pure desperation. Twenty-four-year-old director Antonio Negret's debut is a nail-biting, clock-ticking thriller that eschews stereotypes and blatant moralism, presenting a portrait of Colombia as a vibrant nation of resilience and exuberance, but plagued by extortion and turmoil.

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Reader's Reviews

This film was extremely realistic. Most of the reviews have been poor but i see it differently. Towards Darkness showed how grimy life in Columbia can be. People do what they can to survive and only hope for the best. It seems though, that in the mist of all the despair that hope is easily lost by those that are victims and family's of victims. The film also shows that those you feel you know best in life may not always be what they seem. Everyone has secrets and in the end, people look out for themselves before anyone else.

posted by edibleshampoo on Jun 29, 2008