 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Menendez: The Day of the Lord • Year: 2020 • Country: Mexico, Spain • Director: Santiago Alvarado • Main cast: Juli Fàbregas, Ximena Romo, Hector Illanes • Runtime: 93 minutes • Production company: Invico Capital, Magno Entertainment, Minds Eye Entertainment • TRAILER
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Christian religious people say Sunday is the Day of the Lord. It’s something like their god created the world in 6 days but on the 7th he rested, no? Well, if that is what the “good god” did, what is the position of the Devil on a Sunday?
In Menendez: The Day of the Lord (2020) we have a not very original setup, with the tormented priest now denies of his past and his religion, the former drug-addicted and trouble maker man with a good heart, and his teenage daughter that is suspected to be possessed by a demonic entity. Parents here might wonder how to know if your teenage offspring is just a conflictive bag of hormones or an evil spirit has taken over the body. Hard to say sometimes, eh?
The movie tries hard to be a different exorcisms flick, but in the end, it stays within the same patterns that most of the other titles in the subgenre. It is obvious how much it tries to make the audience think there is going to be a plot twist that will be so surprising that will make the whole watching worthwhile, but, after all, how much can the story change? I mean, is the girl possessed or is she not?
Simplicity is not a bad thing, some of the best movies ever made happen in one location and with a small group of actors. All the action in Menendez: The Day of the Lord (2020) occurs in a house, either in the main rooms or the basement. And the film is starred by 4 characters plus the creature. That can bring the strength of simplicity to the story, but also make evident the small budget conditions and the pseudo-amateurism of the film. The script is very repetitive since the story is so linear that it’s a very hard task to keep the tension in those conditions for an hour and a half. And the mediocre performances of the actors don’t help for the movie to achieve the dynamism it so much needs. Only to outstand the job done by Ximena Romo, playing the cursed daughter, manages to imprint on the screen the exact dose of sassiness or fear depends on the requirements of the scene.
Menendez: The Day of the Lord (2020) is an enjoyable little horror movie, not very original but not annoying. Perfect for one of those evenings where you don’t know what to watch. I think it’s better if you don’t expect anything from it, so no disappointments. There it is, in the Netflix Originals catalog, waiting for you to be in the mood for it. But if you are never in that mood I guess you won’t miss much.
RATE: 4/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5603212
