Santiago Esteves writes and directs The Reborn, aka Los Renacidos, a Spanish crime drama about two estranged brothers who run a shady business faking people’s deaths and helping them disappear.
Manuel (Pedro Fontaine) is a doctor, attending to the sick in a small town. One day, an old associate comes to town about a job. This particular job doesn’t seem to be an ask but more of a request. As Manuel leaves his pregnant wife, he’s soon greeted rather unpleasantly by his brother Oscar (Marco Antonio Caponi) with a nice punch to the face. Ouch! There’s apparently some bad blood between the two.
The next day, the two brothers stake out in an ambulance, waiting for Ruiz (Federico Liss), the “job” they’ve been hired for. Ruiz looks to be out for a jog until he takes a powdery substance that causes him to collapse. Luckily for him, the two brothers are right there as emergency specialists. The brothers are actually there to dose him with enough medication to slow his heart rate and make it appear as though he has died. Eventually, he’s pronounced dead and given a funeral.
Mourners gather graveside for Ruiz’s funeral in The Reborn.
“…two estranged brothers who run a shady business faking people’s deaths and helping them disappear.”
At the cemetery, the two brothers dig up Ruiz’s body, and Manuel revives him. Oscar then double-crosses his brother and knocks him out with chloroform. Ruiz, who is still coming out of his comatose state, is given a proposition by Oscar. Ruiz’s initial agreement with a man they both know as Horacio (Oscar de la Fuente) would have him handed over to the exact people he’s trying to run from. Oscar presents him with a new deal: if Ruiz pays him, he will take him to safety, hide him from Horacio, and reunite Ruiz with his family. The race is now on, with Manuel and Horacio going after Oscar.
When I first came across the logline for the film, it reminded me of the mid-’90s film Eraser, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. That film was more of an action piece dealing with the Witness Protection Program, whereas this film takes a criminal approach to faking one’s death. One story element that I thought stood out was Esteves giving us some backstory on Manuel’s past, showing how he learned about mixing medications. This helps us understand his “expertise” in killing people or making it appear as though they’re dead. I didn’t think Esteves necessarily needed to do this, but it covered a potential missing story arc. The running time for the film is an hour and 25 minutes, and I think he could have spent a little more time on that, as I found that part of the story intriguing. Esteves could have easily made a standard 90-minute film.
There is another highlight to the film that takes place in the trunk of a car. Esteves chooses to shoot the scene so that you can see the action within the frame while still making it feel claustrophobic. There are also events happening outside of the trunk that you can’t see, along with lighting choices that allow you to feel the kind of panic the character is experiencing in the moment. The scene could have easily been shot from the outside, but choosing to keep the focus on the interior shot was genius.
The story is pretty straightforward, and it’s worth investing the time to see if Oscar gets caught for screwing over his brother, as well as what happens to Manuel when he has to deal with Horacio.
For screening information, visit the The Reborn official website.
"…greeted rather unpleasantly...with a nice punch to the face."
