Los Debutantes

A spicy Chilean thriller this, directed by debutante Waissbluth which looks at the lure of a girl working in the nightclub and the men in her life, specifically her boss and two young men, who are brothers who are both vying for her attentions. We see the story three times from three different angles before heading to the ending, seeing different angles of the same incidents.

At first I didn't think the story warranted the 3-angled approach and could have been told in a more straightforward linear fashion but the process grew on me more as it went on. It would appeal mostly to a young machismo audience given that Gracia (Rios) is a fetching lap dancer and the object of attention for 3 males and is largely used as a plaything by one of them.

However, you do tend to believe that women in this kind of world must put up with men behaving badly, drawn as they must be to the lure of money. Nothing of course is quite what it seems here and you tend to stick with it, if only to find out what happens in the final minutes. Raw and visceral, Los Debutantes has a sense of realism about it and the story just about holds up to scrutiny.

Matt Arnoldi