Fantastic Fest 2011

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano and Producers Andrea Quiroz & Horacio Mentasti live in person!

Marga, it must be said, is kind of a bitch. She didn’t become a high-powered lawyer by shying away from conflict or being reserved about her opinions. Which would be fine in most cases, but not when she’s an upper class woman in a rough and tumble Argentinean neighborhood…and her opinions mostly revolve around how much she fucking hates Argentina. Marga is not making any friends, and her list of full-scale enemies is getting longer by the minute.

At the top of that list – at least initially – is her realtor. Marga has inherited an apartment that she’s looking to rent out and her realtor is very, very late. Her next business appointment – the business that requires her to be in this godforsaken country – is coming up very soon. She is not pleased. When he finally does turn up, his flustered demeanor does nothing to put him in Marga’s good books, though his promise of a wealthy client interested in the property certainly perks up her ears. He’s an odd man, but for some quick cash, maybe she can overlook that. But what’s this talk of an impending eclipse?

Writer-director Adrian Garcia Bogliano created quite a splash at SXSW 2011 with his feature film COLD SWEAT (SUDOR FRIO) and now the talented young Argentine returns to Austin with PENUMBRA, a handsome slow burner of a picture. Spanish star Cristina Bondo (Argento’s DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK?) gives a tour de force performance as Marga while Bogliano slowly crafts an atmosphere of unease and dread that builds to a bloody, anything-goes crescendo. Bogliano is clearly a director on the rise and this is his most accomplished film to date. (Todd Brown)