Netflix original American movies have been a pretty hit or miss collection. Their international films are usually culled from the festival circuit and generally have better stories and execution.
The Warning (El Aviso) is a good example of Netflix acquiring an international film with an interesting concept that will play well enough for their American market, even with the subtitles. It’s a Memento meets A Beautiful Mind thriller about a Basque man who discovers that there is a mathematical correlation between a convenience store shooting tragedy and the same spot’s past, present and future. It becomes a nail bitter on how to prevent the horror from occurring in the future.
The Warning is smartly written, acted, executed and shot. The action smoothly and linearly flows between dual story lines that happen concurrently in the present and the past. The director Daniel Calparsoro creates suspense and doubt by letting the audience determine where the reality lies in a character who is a schizophrenic who has stopped taking his meds. Is he acting in a moment of absolute clarity or is this an obsessive delusion?
The final conclusion is a blend of both. It is tragic for the past but hopeful for the future that will stop being cursed and repeating itself.
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