Pimpinero: A Bloody Twist

I must admit, I did not think there was a darker story hiding beneath the opening act of Pimpinero — I thought, uncharitably, that I was witnessing the crowning of a new, gritty Amazon franchise to rival ‘The Fast and the Furious’, or ‘Narcos’.

Soon, it became evident that was not what we were doing — and thank god for that, because what commences is some of the most high-stakes, terrifying and intelligent filmmaking, revolving around the Columbian/Venezuelan Border.

With a light touch, but heavy subject matter, Andrés Baiz navigates subject matter that has been relegated to news broadcasts and shareable political posts on Instagram, and channels the headlines into the camera with a polished, unfussy style. To refrain from spoilers, I won’t go into what I believe was the main twist of the film, which hands off protagonist duties to what seems like an unexpected pair of hands — or what impact that has on the ‘machismo’ patina of the piece.

All I will say is this film is not what it looks like to begin with — it’s not going where you think it’s going.

Warning though - the themes are very mature, though they refrain from being too graphic.