Retribution

Directed by Dani de la Torre, Retribution follows a banker (Luis Tosar’s Carlos) as he and his two children are essentially held hostage within their own car after a mysterious figure plants a weight-sensitive bomb under each of their seats – with the narrative detailing Carlos’ progressively frantic efforts at paying said figure an exorbitant amount of money. It’s a larger-than-life premise that is, at the outset, employed to somewhat underwhelming effect by de la Torre, as the filmmaker, working from a script by Alberto Marini, delivers a less-than-captivating opening stretch that takes just a little too long to get going and suffers from an emphasis on meaningless (and rather tedious) bank-related chatter. There’s little doubt, then, that Retribution improves considerably as it progresses into its increasingly spellbinding midsection, with the picture’s transformation into a frequently electrifying endeavor triggered by a fantastic interlude wherein Carlos attempts to calm down a friend in a similar situation. Past that point, Retribution has been infused with a series of enthralling sequences, including a single-take marvel that effectively introduces Elvira Mínguez’s dogged bomb-squad cop, that carry the movie through to its completely absurd yet entirely entertaining climax – which, when coupled with Tosar’s predictably gripping performance, cements the film’s place as a top-tier contemporary thriller.

***1/2 out of ****