What Is the Story About?
This colombian atmospheric neo-noir is a political thriller and a procedural rolled into one. Inspired by the acclaimed Colombian author Mario Mendoza’s literary universe, this slow burn features itself in a dystopian near future plagued by water shortage. This is where Frank Molina a gruff journalist must face his demons and solve the murder of his dear journalist friend.
Performances?
A stand out performance in The Initiated, is from Andres Parra, who plays the drunk, a little off-guard and also psychologically scarred veteran journalist Frank Molina. Jorge Cao’s Augusto Pombo does well in his brief villain turn, who deserved a lot more screen-space.
Analysis
Based on the literary works of Mario Mendoza, Written by Esteban Orozco & Nicolas Serrano, & directed by Joan Felipe Orozco, The Initiated is a political thriller, an investigative procedural and a colombian punk neo-noir outing, all rolled into one. Rather amicably slow burn, The Initiated literally has it all.
The Initiated opens to a frame where Frank Molina, a just veteran journalist barges into a row of dead-bodies, apparently the ones who died after drinking poisonous surface water. This itself gives away the idea that The Initiated is not a real-time based film, but more like a prodigy of what’s yet to hit us. A dystopian world where all natural resources are poisoned and people die due to lack of quality water.
The production design doesn’t Overweigh itself with a setting we are familiar with in dystopian films, nor are there stylised ‘armoury or looks’, but what is there is a dreadful situation and people struggling to survive. A dog-eat-dog situation where predictably the rich are feeding onto and crunching the poor.
The writing introduces us to a masked female wrestler ‘Lady Massacre’ and her journalist best friend Monica Perea, a trans freelance journalist who is on a mission to uncover mysterious deaths in Kesbah, the capital city. She faces a brutal end and her body goes missing. This is when her mentor, a drunkard half conscious journalist Frank decides to give her the justice she deserved.
What follows in The Initiated, is a typical rich-eat-poor narrative, where the resource the rich wants to monopolise is water. Frank moves places and people to uncover what truly lies beneath the surface can of worms. Although, The Initiated is predictable from the word go and unbearably slow at times, what works is the grotesque violence it attempts even without being gory past half-time and pre-climax.
The writing touches some of humans worst insecurities and turns it to look natural in the hindsight, few years down the lane when resources deplete. Not to spoil the film, but the pre-climactic sequence featuring Frank and Grace battling for their life, did send a chill down my spine.
Having said that, The Initiated could’ve been a lot more. At the end, you’re rather left with an incomplete feeling, a feeling where your time isn’t really rewarded. However, the realistic treatment given to dystopia, makes for a welcome change and so is the politics it vocally stands with. One could brief The Initiated as a more serious version of the recent Batman film atleast in its tonality, but here we got no Batman but a drunk journalist.
Music and Other Departments?
The colour and atmospherics of The Initiated deserves praise for it takes the colombian punk neo-noir notches above, especially in the 1 hour mark and the pre-climaxes. Camilo Monsalve’s cinematography and Monila Gonsalves’ music reflects the uncertain times that awaits us, the bleak, dystopian and fearful one.
Highlights?
The fusion of procedural and punk noir
Lead Actor
Politics
Pre-climax and half-point
Camera work
Drawbacks?
Annoyingly slow sometimes
Rest of the cast casts no impact
Forgettable writing
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, but with reservations.
The Initiated Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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