‘I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me’ Netflix Movie Review - This Thriller Is Largely Impressive

Fernando Frias de la Parra's I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me (based on a novel of the same name by Juan Pablo Villalobos) is something of an alchemy. Its world is dystopian as well as contemporary. Students vehemently argue about racism and misogyny, yet their awareness seems futile in a society where innocent civilians disappear casually in front of an ex-cop's eyes. The people in the background appear static - they almost look like zombies. It feels as if they are tired or oppressed by their surroundings. You don't consider the shots of the children playing in a park or firecrackers bursting in the sky as "cheerful" or "happy." The reason for this despondency is that the movie views Barcelona as a modern hell. Progressive arguments are heard in schools and libraries, while crimes get committed openly in the streets (a woman and a little girl are kidnapped in broad daylight). We sometimes become uneasy while watching the film.

Such bleakness could have easily made this whole thing dull and uninteresting. Some filmmakers get so preoccupied with showing how cold the world is that they end up making a cold film. Fernando Frias de la Parra, however, establishes his bleakness with a seductive charm that immediately draws you in. No matter how bad the situation gets, you are unable to take your eyes off the screen. When the characters walk on the streets, the camera tracks them with such vitality that the atmosphere becomes electric. The images are alive and have a sense of urgency. A shot of a woman lying half-naked on a sofa idly has more energy than a CGI-heavy sequence (or dialogue scene) from an action movie.

What, at first, catches your eye is the way Fernando removes flab to give priority to feelings. We don't see Juan (Dario Yazbek) fighting with his girlfriend, Valentina (Natalia Solián). The big argument occurs offscreen. We get all the information we need through bitter vibes. This air of hostility tells us how terrible the confrontation must have been. After breaking up with Juan, Valentina becomes more and more unhappy. She fails to make new friends, apart from a homeless guy (Ivano Palatucci). Valentina gets a job as a waitress at one point, and it quickly becomes evident that the pay is less and the work is unfulfilling. Why doesn't she go back to her family? While looking at her, I felt as if she was stuck in the city. She tries to escape the melancholic mood but is overpowered by the gloomy surroundings. Eventually, she decides to return to her family.

The subdued tone makes the movie more evocative. When that ex-police officer (Mima Riera) throws Juan's pages in the dustbin, you experience utter hopelessness. You also experience a thrill as that opening scene achieves clarity. Given how certain moments are calculated with military precision, I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me could have turned into a suffocating cinematic exercise. That final scene serves as a fine example. One can also consider that scene where Valentina and a child are placed at a distance from someone so that the movie can create that moment where characters disappear when a vehicle moves in front of them. Furthermore, there is a shot where Valentina and Juan are in an elevator, and she looks ahead while he looks at her. Things like these constantly make us aware of the fact that we are watching a film. As a result, you can get detached from the screen.

But such calculations appear spontaneous and lively in I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me. Fernando certainly enjoyed making this film, and his excitement is wildly infectious. Juan and Valentina fall apart due to a lack of communication (he cannot reveal the truth, which will put his family and girlfriend in danger). The characters in the film often communicate with each other through voice notes. During audio/video calls, they don't have a complete, meaningful conversation. Even the voice messages are stopped in the middle. There are moments when Valentina enters or exits a building just seconds before Juan's entry/exit, signifying the disconnection in this relationship. When Juan and Valentina finally attempt to have an important discussion, they get lost forever. The characters in I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me talk a lot but don't listen to crucial matters. A mother expresses how sad she is about her son's disappearance but doesn't read the truth in those pages. Her ignorance probably underlines how people (of Barcelona) would rather brush aside than accept the facts, the truth. They are, in a way, promoting corruption through their ignorance.

The movie has its share of flaws. One of them is that little girl who says things like, "There is no silence here, only phrases you avoid hearing." We are told that she has absorbed these words from her mother, but this explanation is unconvincing. She comes across as a mouthpiece for the writers. Juan's thesis has something to do with finding if humor is appropriate or inappropriate in certain conditions, and the movie often tries to locate dark humor in serious situations. Hence, we get that scene where three men play a hand game to decide who will call their boss. Moments like these are weak as they seem to be sweating to impress the audience. Fernando might not be good at comedy, but he manages to cover up his shortcomings with a movie that's largely impressive.

Final Score- [9/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times