@Filmhouse, Edinburgh Fri 5 Oct 2018. as part of the Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival

Set against the backdrop of Post-Franco 1980’s Spain, Marshland follows two homicide detectives Juan (Javier Gutiérrez) and Pedro (Raúl Alévaro) who must put aside their different ideologies and work together to investigate the disappearance of two sisters in the murky backwaters of Andalucía. The mismatched pair’s investigation leads them into a dark and intriguing mystery as they find themselves searching for a serial killer while dealing with a suspicious and largely uncooperative town of people, who may be covering up a seedy underbelly.

With a similar premise to HBO’s True Detective and Bong Joon Ho’s masterful Memories of Murder, the film does suffer from over familiarity but Writer-Director Alberto Rodríguez enlivens the film with a unique setting, exploring Spain’s tense transition from dictatorship to democracy while trying to bury their dark past. The clash between Liberalism and Fascism is perfectly conveyed with the juxtaposition of the two leads as younger detective Pedro is an outspoken idealist, while the older Juan has a troubled past with connections to the Franco era.

The film is abundant with style and atmosphere with cinematographer Alex Catalán capturing the beautiful yet mysterious setting with some stunning overhead shots of the rural landscape, while Julio de la Rosa’s hauntingly sparse score sounds eerily similar to Gustavo Santaolalla’s work on Babel . The cast are brilliantly understated anchored by two fantastic lead performances, most notably from Gutiérrez as the morally dubious Juan.

While the deliberate pacing may be off putting for some – Marshland is a taut and subtly effective thriller which rises above genre conventions with engaging socio-political themes, transporting the viewer to a country ravaged by fear and paranoia.