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The Invisible Guest

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Wikipedia article




'The Invisible Guest' is a 2016 Spanish mystery thriller film written and directed by Oriol Paulo. It was released in Spain on 6 January 2017. The film opened to lukewarm critical response, but was a commercial success, grossing $30.7 million against its 4 million budget.

'The Invisible Guest' has spawned four remakes in different languages.

Plot



Spanish businessman Adrin Doria is out on bail after being arrested for the murder of his lover, Laura Vidal. His lawyer, Flix Leiva, hires prestigious defense attorney Virginia G, who visits him at his apartment with the news that the prosecutor has found a witness who will be testifying in front of a judge soon; they have three hours to come up with a defense so Virginia urges her client to tell her the whole truth.

Adrin tells Virginia how he and Laura ended their affair months ago but received a call blackmailing them to come to a rural hotel with 100,000. At the hotel, Adrin was knocked unconscious and awoke to find Laura dead in the bathroom. With the door and the windows locked from inside the police found Adrin to be the only suspect.

Adrin then narrates further back, how he claimed to be in Paris but was really in a cabin with Laura. As they drive back to Barcelona, Adrin swerves to avoid a deer, clipping another car, which hits a tree. Although they are unhurt, the driver of the other car, a bank employee named Daniel Garrido, 23, is killed. Laura rationalizes that it is not entirely their fault since Daniel was texting and not wearing his seat belt. When another car approaches, Laura pushes Daniel's body down across the passenger's seat, and she and Adrin pretend to exchange insurance information. She pretends to answer Daniel's phone when it rings to continue the ruse, and the other driver leaves, convinced. Laura waits for a tow truck in Adrin's car, which will not start, while Adrin dumps Daniel's car in a lake with his body in the trunk.

Later on, Laura, upset, picks up Adrin in the vicinity of the lake and tells him how his car was repaired. An automotive engineer, Toms, drove by and offered to help Laura, who claimed she'd hit a deer. He towed Adrian's car to his (Toms's) house to fix it. While talking to Toms's wife, Elvira, Laura saw some family photographs and realized Daniel Garrido was their son. When Laura was about to leave and got into Adrian's car, she adjusted the driver's seat arousing Toms's suspicion as to the identity of the driver. After Adrin sells his car and reports it stolen, he parts ways with Laura, hopefully for good.

Within a few days, Adrin is summoned to the police station, as Toms has reported his plate number to the police. Flix arranges for a false alibi for Adrin in Paris, and bribes the police to remove Adrin's name from the Garrido case file. When the news report that Daniel is on the run after embezzling money from the bank, Adrin confronts Laura, who admits that she took Daniel's wallet when they put his body in the trunk, and later hacked into Daniel's account and stole the money. Adrin tells her that what she did is wrong, but Laura threatens to frame him too.

Adrin is named European Businessman of the Year, and Toms poses as a reporter during the ceremony to confront him. Toms notices that Adrin pulls out the same cigarette lighter he saw when fixing the car. He begs Adrin to tell him where his son's body is in order to bury him as security removes Toms. Days later, Adrin receives a photo of a lake with instructions to take Laura to the rural hotel with 100,000. Adrin thinks the blackmailer may be the driver they saw driving by just after the accident, if he followed Adrin as he dumped the car into the lake.

Back in the present, Virginia suggests that, in order to save himself, Adrin could claim he saw the face of the man who hit him in the rural hotel room and that the attacker was Toms. Adrin then reveals he has always known it was Toms, as he 'did' see his face, but he didn't say it because he was testing Virginia.

Virginia suggests planting an item belonging to Laura in the trunk of Daniel's car (with Daniel's body in it), and claiming she acted alone. Adrin then confesses that as he was pushing the car into the lake, Daniel woke up, as he was only unconscious; an autopsy would reveal he drowned. Virginia is visibly shocked, yet she states she will not reveal this to the judge.

Virginia says Laura's medical records show she was suffering from anxiety, likely from a guilty conscience, and suggests Adrin is lying to make it seem like Laura was the mastermind behind their deceit. However, Virginia says she believes Toms framed him because Elvira (Toms's wife) works at the rural hotel where Laura's body was found, and that's why the Garridos chose that place for the rendezvous: Elvira could have easily unlocked the window for her husband to escape after killing Laura, and later locked the window, making it seem like nobody else came in. Virginia says Toms has been stalking him (Adrin), Flix and even herself, and points to an apartment across the street, where Toms is lurking. She continues to push Adrin, who finally admits that he killed Laura and staged the scene.

Flix phones and leaves a message on Adrin's home voicemail, urging him to call back as he was unable to reach him on his cellphone. Virginia suggests he return Flix's call as they take a quick 10-minute break. She exits the apartment with great urgency. Adrin meanwhile turns on his cellphone and calls Flix: Flix again says to Adrin that he could not get a hold of him and informs him that the prosecution's witness is indeed the other driver, but his silence was successfully bought. As Flix questions how the meeting with Virginia is going, the call is getting disturbed with high pitched tones, Adrin then realizes that their entire conversation is being recorded. He recalls Virginia turning off his phone previously, most probably so the cellphone signal would not disrupt the recording. He looks into the apartment across the street and sees Toms standing next to Virginia, who reveals herself to be Elvira Garrido in disguise. Using the confession Elvira coerced from Adrin, Toms calls the police as the real Virginia Goodman arrives at Adrin's apartment.

Cast



* Mario Casas as Adrin Doria, successful businessman, husband and father

* Brbara Lennie as Laura Vidal, Adrin's lover

* Iigo Gastesi as Daniel Garrido vila, 23-year-old banker

* Francesc Orella as Flix Leiva, Adrin's attorney

* Blanca Martnez as Virginia Goodman, defense attorney hired by Flix

* Jos Coronado as Toms Garrido, Daniel's father

* Ana Wagener as Elvira Garrido, Daniel's mother

* Manel Dueso as Inspector Miln

* San Ylamos as Sonia, Adrin's wife

* David Selvas as Bruno, Laura's husband

* Paco Tous as Conductor

Filming



The film was shot in 2015 (from March 10, 2015 to July 12, 2015), in Terrassa, a city in Catalonia, Spain, and in other locations in Spain, such as the city of Barcelona, the region of Biscay, and Vall de Nria.

Reception



The film grossed in Spain and in China. 67% of nine reviews are positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and the average rating is 6.56/10.

Remakes



* The Italian-language film 'Il testimone invisibile' (2018) is a remake of this film.

* The Indian Hindi language film 'Badla' (2019), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu, is a remake of this film.

* The Indian Telugu language film 'Evaru' (2019), starring Adivi Sesh and Regina Cassandra, is loosely inspired by the film.

* 2022 Korean language film 'Confession', starring So Ji-Sub and Yunjin Kim, is a remake of this film.

References




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