* * * 1/2
Playing a little like the last act of Goodfellas without the cocaine or the pasta, Spanish thriller The Realm is relentlessly propulsive. Manuel (Antonio de la Torre), a high ranking career politician, is about to get a big bump up the political career ladder, but the web of schemes he and basically every politician in the country has been involved in threatens to splinter, ruining everything. He’s on the run, trying to keep ahead of the story, the evidence, his allies, his enemies, everything and everyone, by car, train, foot. There’s no voiceover a la Ray Liotta, but you get the sweat.
The film’s glossy sheen is seductive, as is Manuel, who gives out an air of superficial goodness even as we know he’s part of the problem. He’s a family man, a decent man – right? Except he’s so not. It’s part of the film’s ingenuity that we’re able to simultaneously root for him and revel in his downfall. Slot in Michael Cohen from his congressional hearings; the fit is weirdly perfect.
The film’s final act is superb: very tense, very cynical and very very angry. Writer / co-director Rodrigo Sorogoyen ultimately pulls no punches; the final scene screams what we all want to at our corrupt politicians. It’s satisfying stuff, and truly on the dirty money for these deeply corrupt times.