Netflix lands in Madrid producing and filming its first Spanish movie. The Californian company bets on this cinematographic industry with the movie 7 Years, which was released on the 28th October.
´I recommend people to watch it together, it’s a movie that has to be watched in groups’ insists the director Roger Gual (Goya winner director for Smoking Room). With the release of his new production, he invites us to reflect on the level of loyalty between the four founding business partners of a multi-million euro technological enterprise. The drama draws us into a prisoner's dilemma where the main characters have to decide who is going to prison for a tax crime they have all committed. 'Who is going to blame oneself and let the others come off free?' The question that makes the movie and whose answer would not leave anyone indifferent.
From the beginning, the movie revolves around two main topics: corruption and the urge to find a solution in a very short time. It perfectly captures the corruption situation in Spain making it more personal for the public. The characters are gradually introduced throughout the story establishing themselves as very different pillars of the company, none of them expendable. They have less than 24 hours to make a decision and due to the difficulty of the situation, the four partners - Paco León (Aída, Kiki, el amor se hace), Juana Acosta (Hospital Central, Adolfo Suárez, el presidente), Juan Pablo Raba (Narcos) and Alex Brendemühl (From the Land of the Moon) – need the help of a mediator (Manuel Morón) to find the best solution for the company to prevail.
The director succeeds in maintaining the tension until the last scene, with the use of different techniques which make the movie seem like a theatrical play. He makes the wise decision of allowing the action to take place in a single setting with minimalist decoration using dark lights and a soundtrack without lyrics. The nature of each character, and their relationship with one another tends to differ depending on the environment the scene is set in. The movie begins by showing the partners in the different rooms of the building, but as tension builds up they are all situated around one big meeting table that works as the linking object between them.
7 years is highly recommended, as it creates suspense and draws the viewer into the dilemma faced by its characters, gripping ones’ imagination to think what they would do in that situation.
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