 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Unknown Origins (aka Orígenes Secretos) • Year: 2020 • Country: Spain, Argentina • Director: David Galán Galindo • Main cast: Javier Rey, Verónica Echegui, Brays Efe, Antonio Resines, Ernesto Alterio • Runtime: 96 minutes • Production company: In Post We Trust, La Chica de la Curva, Nadie es Perfecto, Netflix • TRAILER
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Without a doubt, 2020 is being a catastrophic year for cinema. The COVID-19 pandemic shutting down productions and keeping theaters closed, the death of two of the most iconic actors of all times Sean Connery and Max von Sydow, and the existence of such a horrible film piece as Unknown Origins (2020) (called Orígenes Secretos in original Spanish language).
The movie was so bad that I think it will be faster and more clear if I first mention what is positive enough in the whole feature: NOTHING. There is nothing to salvage from this absolute nonsense of a film, a total waste of time. One of the most stupid stories I’ve ever witnessed on a screen but acted and directed so awfully that it resulted in a very painful task to watch.
And I really don’t understand it. The movie has been written and directed by David Galán Galindo, who is also the writer of the novel the movie is based on, and is a filmmaker that although his only feature film titles in his career were segments in the anthologies Al Final Todos Mueren (2013) and Pixel Theory (2013), he has a wide experience as a TV and short films writer and producer. Besides that, the screenplay for the movie has been co-written by Fernando Navarro, who has been involved in the writing of some of the most interesting Spanish thriller and horror films of the last decade including Spy Time (2015), Toro (2016), Verónica (2017), and Muse (2017). And we can’t forget Unknown Origins (2020) is starred by some of the most representative and respective actors in the Spanish language film industry like Antonio Resines, Ernesto Alterio, and Leonardo Sbaraglia. So, then, what went wrong? I mean, why did everything went wrong?
The screenplay is really stupid. Like, really. It feels like written by a 5 years old kid with serious limitations. First I was thinking perhaps the movie was targeting an underaged or young-adult audience, which is not an excuse for utter garbage as the one present here but, I don’t know, who knows. But it is not the case, there is plenty of bad language along the running time, and they scratch the surface of some very sordid subjects as raping and murdering little girls. So, the only option left here is that the movie aims for an adult audience, which then opens the big question of what kind of mentally disabled audience they thought they were going to reach.
I assume the filmmakers wanted to be the biggest smartasses in class. I can only imagine they were trying to make homage or parody of essential films like Se7en (1995) or Lethal Weapon (1987), and take them to a mundane superheroes level in the style of Defendor (2009), Kick-Ass (2010), and James Gunn’s Super (2010), but the result is some pathetic cocktail of nonsense rubbish.
If we take a look at the contents of the movie, the message it wants to share, it is evident that the filmmakers wanted to display some mild criticism about how our society is becoming more violent and disconnected from what the “humanity” concept, in theory, stands for, in the good sense of the word; and also claim for some kind of geek pride against those who make a laugh at putting down all the fans of that sub-world of the comic books, cosplaying and superheroes. It is all covered in a key of comedy, yes. But the result is insulting, offensive to the brain, and very very painful to look at. And, overall, what the fuck is all that glorification of the police force? Especially in a country like Spain, where the law enforcement corps are seriously questioned for their violent and criminal actions with excessive use of force against unarmed all-age civilians, their corruption, the uncontrolled drug-use, and the far-right-wing tendency of their members. Well, that happens in Spain and pretty much everywhere else, we just have to see the news and the worldwide #BlackLivesMatter movement. No, seriously, that “super-cop” thing was out of place.
The theoretical success of a movie like Unknown Origins (2020) resides in how much the audience can relate to the characters. In part because these kinds of anti-superhero stories are character stories, but also because the story in this movie is so badly developed that one must hang onto something. Well, all the line-up of protagonists are a collection of overflowing cliches making them be beyond a joke of a parody. And if you add a display of really bad acting by all the performers in the movie, you can get to the idea of the dimensions of the tragedy. Especially the triangle formed by the so-called hero of the story, the young and sexy and pathetic female police boss, and the fatty geek guy who helps them solve the cases.
Oh, yes, I almost forgot. What is the movie about? Well, on one side you have a somehow super-detective that is retiring from the force, so his replacement is a young and inexperienced officer who I have serious doubts he managed to pass primary school. And, on the other side, we get a mysterious serial killer who is committing weird murders mimicking the happenings in classic comic books like Hulk, Spiderman, Batman, and others. I know, the story so far can sound promising, and that’s what I thought when I went to see this movie. But hopes vanish within the very first minutes.
So, this is Unknown Origins (2020). A pastiche of comic books, films, and TV series references, a dumb detectives plot with even dumber detectives, and a bad guy that might be the most random bad guy ever created. All done the worst way one can imagine and filled up with highly predictable but very very lame conversations, plot twists, and happenings. And, in the end, it all is worse than you anticipated. Yes, that bad.
I want to end this review by making a statement. If there is one good thing about Ganiveta is that this magazine is 100% independent, there is no money involved and no content guideline to follow in order to allow full freedom to the collaborators and content creators. With that, I want to admit that I choose what movies to talk about, and I tend to always make reviews of the movies I enjoy or I think I have positive and worthy things to share with the possible readers these posts could have. That is why there are very few negative reviews here, we rather stay positive. Still, I think this review must be written because the creators of an atrocity like Unknown Origins (2020) shouldn’t get away scot-free. This movie is really really bad at all levels. All of them. I don’t even know why I rate it with a 1/10 when it should be zero. Even recalling the movie to write this text is painful.
Good work, Netflix. This definitely works for all those people who make fun of the popular streaming service claiming they add to their catalog all the bad movies the rest of the services and distributors reject. Seriously, only watch Unknown Origins (2020) if you want to have a top title in your list of the worst movies you’ve ever seen. In that, I can ensure you it makes top5. Absolutely worthless.
RATE: 1/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5827790
