Editor's Note: The following contains Infiesto spoilers.
One of Netflix's best new movies, neo-noir thriller Infiesto, has a very somber and dreary feel to it. The film is a taut psychological suspense piece that has elements of Nic Pizzolatto's True Detective, Denis Villaneuve's, Prisoners, and David Fincher's 1995 masterpiece, Seven. That's not to say that Infiesto is on the same level as those films, but with its dusky camera filter, dark plot and morbid tone, you can tell that director, Patxi Amezcua has borrowed some of the best aspects of the two films, and deftly applies them to her project.
The movie maintains a very rapid, but well-paced tempo immediately diving into a series of child abductions and the hunt for the kidnappers. To make the film even gloomier, the first teenage girl, who was thought to be dead, turns up in the middle of a road in shock on the same day that Spain has enforced a mandatory lockdown due to the coronavirus. Lieutenant Samuel Garcia (Isak Ferríz) and Sargeant Castro (Iria del Río) are tasked with solving the case while also dealing with the government issued pandemic protocols. It is about as grim as any film you will find on the streamer, but benefits from excellent performances from its leads and a storyline that ratchets up the suspense with every scene.
'Infiesto's Case Involves Three Suspects
Garcia and Castro begin their hunt for the suspects in the mountainous Asturias region of the Spanish countryside, where they come across a man known simply as "Dog Killer". He owns and operates a small farm, and initially doesn't seem like a person of interest in the case, but after Garcia is able to put him at the crime scene, they return to find him gone.
They later track him down sitting at the base of a tree holding a shotgun. They instruct him to put the gun down, but he responds by telling the detectives that, "This is only the beginning." and places the barrel of the shotgun under his chin and pulls the trigger. He is the first piece of an ugly picture that is slowly starting to come into focus and will lead the two cops down a very dark and twisted road while also having one arm tied behind their back caused by the pandemic lockdown.
Demon and Tiranis
After receiving a tip about a man known only as, "Demon", Garcia and Castro track him down at a small hermitage where he has barricaded himself inside. They are immediately fired upon by Demon, and after a dangerous gunfire exchange, Demon explains that he has run out of bullets and turns himself in while also screaming at the top of hus lungs, "This is just the beginning!" just like Dog Killer says before committing suicide. While being interviewed, it becomes evident that Demon is a psychologically disturbed veteran of the War in Iraq, and is willing to die to protect the identity of a third man that he refers to as, "The Prophet."
He goes on to explain that all the children that have been kidnapped were taken on the orders of The Prophet and are intended to be sacrifices to Tiranis, the God of Storms that dates back to Greek mythology., and was worshiped by the Druids of Celtic origin hundreds of years ago. They discover that the sacrifices are to be made in accordance with the change of season from winter to spring. They realize that they only have 48 hours before the first day of spring, and must find "The Prophet" in the next two days in order to spare the lives of his abductees.
Who Is The Prophet?
After Garcia discovers a body in the back of a van just outside police headquarters, he angrily hauls Demon out to a remote spot in the Spanish countryside where he tortures him for the name of "The Prophet" but Demon doesn't break. It is Day 5 of the lockdown and Garcia is starting to feel the pressure. As he tortures Demon to the brink of death, it's clear that he's coming more and more unhinged under the weight of the case and the lockdown.
After putting a few clues together with some more interviews and good old-fashioned detective sleuthing, they get a lead on The Prophet, and find out he has become obsessed with the Druids and ritualistic sacrifices. They also discover his name is Ramos, and he is from the small town of Infiesto on the northwest portion of Spain.
An Unexpected Killer
Garcia gets a tip on the possible location of The Prophet and takes to an isolated country home in the middle of a rainstorm where he is shot in the back and then gunned down execution style by the local police chief who was very briefly seen offering his assistance to Garcia and Castro at the beginning of the film. Castro later arrives finds Garcia dead, and is determined to capture his killer as they arrive at an abandoned coal mining facility that Castro learned about in an interview with a survivor of The Prophet/ Ramos' abuse.
She slowly leads a small squad of police through the coal yard guns drawn. After taking an elevator below ground to a mine shaft alone, she exits the elevator as can hear screams echoing through the vast mining shaft before her. There is an exchange of gunfire with a then unseen Ramos/The Prophet, but neither of them are hit. Muffled screams continue as she slowly moves toward the noises.
'Infiesto's Ending Explained
Castro comes upon a very dim and small cave-like room lit only with candles. The area has been fashioned to be some sort of ritualistic alter room. She sees a teenage girl shackled with chains around her hands and feet as if preparing to be sacrificed. Castro lowers her weapon and is struck from the side by Ramos - the same local officer who executed Garcia, and he is wearing a primitive animal hide with a wolf-headed hood. She is knocked off her feet, but not wounded as she is wearing a protective, bulletproof vest.
Ramos makes his way toward the downed Castro, but is distracted by the young girl just long enough for Castro to put two bullets into Ramos. He falls, but lives just long enough to utter, "This is only the beginning." before Castro fires a coup de grace shot, and rescues the kidnapped girl. Castro returns to the hospital where her boyfriend has improved after being on a ventilator from Covid, and the ambulances start to pour into the hospital parking lot signaling the beginning of an even broader battle against the virus.