by Annette Basile
Worth: $12.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Manolo Cardona, Theo Goldin, Maximo Hollander, Federica García, Julio César Cedillo
Intro:
… puts the ‘slow’ into slowburn.
It’s 1993 in the Mexican desert. Salvador (Theo Goldin) and his father drive away from a roadside diner and run head on into tragedy. A truck smashes into their car. Salvador survives but his father is killed.
Fast forward two years – a traumatised Salvador and his older brother Fernando (Maximo Hollander) live with their mother plus her new husband and his daughter, soapie-obsessed Paula (Federica García in an understated standout performance).
Fernando spends a lot of time rummaging through a car graveyard, looking for the vehicle that his father died in. With an anger that is too close to the surface, the vengeful teenager hopes that by finding the car he’ll be able to trace the truck driver whose accidental actions destroyed the family. Led by Fernando, the grieving brothers decide to exact their revenge. Not knowing about their true plan, Paula manipulates the situation so she can go along for the ride from Mexico City into the desert, her pretty boy boyfriend in tow.
With a screenplay from celebrated 21 Grams screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, and directed by his offspring, Mariana Arriaga and Santiago Arriaga, this drama/thriller puts the ‘slow’ into slowburn. Upon Open Sky is meandering and somewhat repetitive, yet there are heightened moments, such as a tense police check. (There’s also an unnecessarily brutal scene involving a road accident and animals, sensitive viewers be warned.)
The drama and thrills finally kick in during the third act as the teenagers close in on the truckie. It takes way too long to get here but the finale is genuinely gripping and emotionally affecting, with the young cast in full flight – even Hollander, whose unsympathetic Fernando is one of this uneven film’s main problems.
Upon Open Sky does have something to say about family, grief and revenge, while the relationship between Paula and her new step brothers is interesting – complicated by an underlying sexual tension that competes with a fledgling familial bond. But despite irregular flashes of fine filmmaking and an impressive conclusion, the near two-hour running time can’t quite be justified.
Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga
