Dani (Natalia de Molina) is a rookie member of Madrid’s police riot squad. The government has been trying to clean up the area, and the squad has been tasked with “removals”—aka evictions—of illegals and those who refuse to leave their apartments. Dani doesn’t get a lot of respect from some of her fellow male troopers, especially after a recent incident involving one of her depressed evictees leaping from his balcony while she wasn’t looking. Dani’s unit has just been deployed to a rundown apartment building in a particularly bad neighborhood, where they are met with a crowd of angry residents throwing rocks and other objects. A second unit has also been sent to provide backup, as her team makes their way into the building and starts evicting those on their list.
While exploring one apartment, Dani comes across a stash of hidden money, and is faced with a dilemma. At first she decides to leave the money, but then goes back to retrieve it as she could really use the money to help her ailing mother. When the backup cops show up with the owner of the apartment—the manager of the building, who’s been skimming rent money from the owner—Dani hides and watches as the corrupt cops demand a cut of the money he’s been hoarding. When he refuses, things escalate, and that’s when the other cops realize that Dani had been watching the events the whole time. They try to reason with Dani, but it’s clear that they are desperate to get rid of any evidence or witnesses, and so she runs. Dani now finds herself trapped in this building, with a half-dozen crooked cops hunting her down, and other various angry residents. The only person she can turn to for help is Nasha (Bella Agossou), a young mother she just tried to evict an hour earlier. As Dani tries to make it out of the building alive, she also discovers how the system she works for has harmed many honest people just trying to make a life for their families.
Siege (Asedio) is a bit slow for the first 10-or-so minutes, opening with a seemingly-unrelated story about the Dahomey (aka the subject of The Woman King), which doesn’t even come up again until the final moments of the movie. However, the film really gets going as soon as Dani gets on the riot van and heads to the apartment building for the evictions. Your heart is pumping as the van arrives to an angry crowd and the use of the surround sound and handheld cameras put the viewer right in the middle of the chaos and action as Dani and her fellow troopers make their way through a mob of rioting residents and into the building. The tension never slows down as slow, sweeping shots allow the viewer to experience things from Dani’s POV as she carefully surveys the situation and her surroundings, making her way through the hallways and apartments. The film is creatively shot. Often Dani is the only person in focus, with other characters in the background blurred out, or the view of them is blinded by the brightness coming from a window. It is a unique aesthetic that really works, and helps you focus on her plight as the tension gets ratcheted up. The film is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which was quite noticeable at first, but became more natural as the film went on.
I really enjoyed this movie overall. The filmmakers do an excellent job of keeping things moving and exciting. The apartment building is like a labyrinth with hidden passages cut into the walls, and as Dani makes her way through the different levels of the building she encounters new dangers and various unique groups of people, who aren’t all happy to see a cop in their midst. The filmmakers have also done a nice job of weaving in some interesting character drama and social commentary into this original story, rather than just making a knock-off of The Raid.
Sony has released Siege (Asedio) on digital format, but no physical release has been announced at this time. Normally in my reviews, I would comment on the audio and video presentation of the release, but I watched this film via a screener, and I’m not sure how it compares to the final quality of the consumer product. That said, the screener version I saw made excellent use of the surround sound to give an immersive experience, and made really creative use of the visual presentation, purposely putting various portions out of focus or saturated in white, while other areas are presented with an excellent level of detail. The film is presented in its original Spanish language, with well-written and easy to follow English subtitles. There doesn’t appear to be any supplemental material offered with the digital release.
What’s Included:
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Digital specs may vary by platform/retailer.
- 1080p / Full Frame 1.33:1
- Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English
Film: (1:39:06)
Extras:
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No bonus material included
Final Thoughts:
Siege (Asedio) is an entertaining thriller that does a nice job of building the tension as this rookie riot squad trooper finds herself pursued by corrupt coworkers in a rundown apartment building, and must turn to the locals she’s trying to evict for help. The picture and sound on my screener were great, so I suspect the retail version will be similar. This film is worth checking out—I’ll definitely be adding this one to my own digital collection.
Siege (Asedio)
$3.99 (as of November 7, 2024 14:32 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
