The Wait (La Espera) is an indie horror-thriller written and directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez (Before the Fall, Rings). It's about a man named Eladio (Víctor Clavijo) working for Don Francisco (Pedro Casablanc) who asks him to live at an old estate to help keep it up, and tells him he can live there and bring his wife Marcia (Ruth Díaz) and son Floren (Moisés Ruiz). While it sounds like a great deal, Eladio starts to quickly realize that some people around him are not as loyal as he thought and loses his sanity a bit as he tries to navigate the requests from the dons while his family is on the edge.
What we liked:
Fantastic Cinematography. This film was very aware in every shot, and the cinematography is phenomenal in this. Great eye for cinema.
Great Story. You get to see a man go through the entire gamut of emotions, and very written. The story of Eladio and the things he and his family must endure while being isolated on the farm is captivating.
The acting in this was also great. The cast is extremely talented as was everyone else on this production.
A lot of nice surprises. There were some great unexpected moments.
What we thought could have been better:
While there were some really good scenes, that highlighted the more "horror" side of things, we would have loved to see them lean into it a bit more.
Would have loved to have seen more madness from Eladio.
Overall: The Wait (La Espera) is just a fantastic film. It's one of the best indie film efforts we have seen, and it's because you can tell that a lot of love and effort went into making it. The writing, acting, atmosphere, score, cinematography... It was all there, and it was done right. The story that is being told is captivating, the cinematography and score create a bleak, yet, really immersive atmosphere, and the story was well-written with a great cast. We would highly recommend all horror fans give this a watch. It's a thriller/horror that stands out in the sea of horror films that get released these days, and it's thriving there.
The Wait (La Espera) releases Friday, October 4th on digital and cable VOD, including Apple TV, Prime Video and Fandango at Home from Film Movement.
