In this whodunit/what-on-earth-really-happened, rockstar businessman Adrian Doria (Mario Casas) stands accused of murdering his lover, Laura (Bárbara Lennie).
Doria claims he is innocent, but he was found alone with the body and the murder weapon in a hotel room that was secured from the inside. His only hope is legal defence whiz Virginia Goodman (Ana Wagener). But Adrian has secrets he doesn’t want to reveal, forcing Virginia into a game of cat and mouse to uncover the truth, and to best defend her client.
'The Invisible Guest' (directed by Oriol Paulo) has some wonderful moments of suspense, but it is let down by twists and turns the audience can see coming a mile away. Believability is also a weak point, with the cat and mouse relationship between the two main characters straining credulity at points. Why would a client test a famous defence attorney – who has never lost a case – by lying so transparently about so many details? Why would he treat her like a despised enemy throughout the entire movie when she is being paid to get him off?
The way the personalities of the characters changed throughout the movie also defied credulity. They went from being evil, to victims and back again. While this theoretically makes sense for the structure of the story, the shifts were so blunt and without nuance that it just made the characters completely unsympathetic.
Finally, the ending. It was unfortunately quite obvious, and rather than letting the story unfold, it was signposted with a very heavy hand. Other “gotcha!” moments were either silly, or redundant. When Virginia suggests an alternate suspect halfway through the film, the audience seems to be expected to be shocked. The problem is that he was an obvious suspect as soon as he was introduced.
As one cinema-goer commented, although the story was engaging and had a lot of potential, it could have done with further workshopping. It is an idea that has been done better by other films.
Spanish Film Festival Tour Dates
26 April-14 May – Adelaide27 April-14 May – Brisbane
27 April-17 May – Perth
11 May-17 May – Hobart
