Star Marko Zaror, producer Derek Rundell and director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza live in person!

"MIRAGEMAN reunites all of the principal players behind KILTRO, the first ever South American martial arts film. But while MIRAGEMAN certainly will meet expectations of fans looking for a thorough martial arts ass-whuppin’ on most other levels it will come as a surprise to those looking for a continuation of KILTRO. The two films are remarkably different, the combination of martial artist Marko Zaror and writer-director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza proving to be surprisingly versatile, tapping into entirely different approaches to the martial arts genre. KILTRO aimed large, very nearly epic, with a sprawling cast of characters, complex plotlines, extensive back story and fusion of influences. MIRAGEMAN, on the other hand plays it as raw and rough as possible, going straight for the throat and never taking the foot off the gas pedal.

Zaror stars as Maco, a young man orphaned when his parents became the victims of a violent attack, the attackers also raping his younger brother and leaving him nearly catatonic in a mental institution. For his part, Maco has withdrawn almost entirely into himself, paying the bills working as a bouncer at a strip club, filling the rest of his entirely solitary life training in the martial arts so that he can never be victimized again. But everything changes for Maco one fateful night, a night when he encounters a home invasion in progress and decides to intervene. He stops a woman from being raped, knocks the trio of attackers unconscious, and does it all while wearing a mask he took from one of the gang, presumably so that he could not be recognized and targeted himself should any of the gang escape. This would have been the end of the story for Maco, an admirable but isolated event, if not for one simple fact: the intended rape victim was a television reporter, one who praises her savior on national television the next day, triggering visions of super heroes in the mind of Maco’s younger brother, visions that give the young boy hope and focus that lead to a sudden improvement of his condition. Maco’s path seems clear: to save his brother he must become the hero the news has made him out to be.

MIRAGEMAN succeeds – and succeeds strongly – for two simple reasons: Ernesto Diaz Espinoza and Marko Zaror. Espinoza brings a strong voice to his writing and a rawly energetic shooting style to the table. His script does a remarkable job of balancing fantasy with reality, comedy with grit, raw action with sly social parody. The balancing act is remarkable – the film nimbly sets scenes of its hero battling a gang of pedophiles against those of him being pursued by a clumsy buffoon determined to be his sidekick against scenes of the television reporter quickly losing any sense of sincerity in her rapidly escalating quest for personal fame and fortune through higher ratings – and enormously successful. You shouldn’t be able to have a realistic gang of child-kidnapping pedophiles in a film that frequently has you laughing out loud at its hero – the scene where Mirage Man returns from his first costumed battle only to discover that his street clothes have been stolen while he was gone is a classic – but this film does. That the comic and tragic elements both work is astounding.

And Zaror? The man is simply an enormous physical talent. The martial arts sequences are frequently stunning - most of them shot handheld, with minimal rehearsal, and partially improvised to keep them looking natural and with absolutely zero wire work or CG enhancement – with Zaror pulling off moves a man his size simply should not be able to. This is the man who body doubled The Rock in THE RUNDOWN, remember, and here he is taking down adversaries with series of complex spinning kicks. But Zaror is also proving to be more than just a fighter. He’s not likely to win an Oscar any time soon but he has a natural screen presence and charisma that carries him a long way and there’s been a notable improvement in his acting skills. Zaror works almost entirely without dialogue in MIRAGEMAN and it’s remarkable how much he is able to express without words.

The Espinoza / Zaror combination [contains] two very talented artists, both of whom are continuing to grow and come into their own. KILTRO was a very strong debut, MIRAGEMAN a strong step forward. Keep an eye for whatever the future may bring." - Todd Brown, TwitchFilm