"Unknown Origins", Better Left Unknown

Netflix

Release Date: August 28, 2020

Another foreign film (this time from Spain) getting the dubbed treatment and the “Netflix Original” stamp, Unknown Origins is a crime-drama with a comic book twist that ultimately never has a grip on what mask it wants to wear.

The film's plot is a comic book-themed Se7en mixed with the concept of Shyamalan's Unbreakable. An unnamed serial killer is murdering individuals in ways inspired by the first appearances of popular superheroes. Sounds promising, right? The retiring Detective Cosme Elias receives the case, only to hand it over to David, the new detective taking his place. As the comic-connection between the murders comes clear, Cosme's comic-shop owner son Jorge (played by a Spanish Jack Black) partners with David to assist in the investigation.

The opening sets a serious and gritty tone that I spent the rest of the film waiting to get back to. The images of a veteran detective and a barbell-decapitated head set in a world with muted blues and greys gave a David Finch-like atmosphere. The rest of the film attempts to strike this weird balance of a cop drama and a buddy cop comedy with a conversation on whether comics are meant for adults or kids. While trying to answer that question, we get nods to so many comic book characters, from the murders themselves to the murderers intentions and methods. There was such an amalgamation of comic tropes that you end up left with no choice but to abandon the hope of even a semi-serious treatment. As the plot develops, you eventually grasp that the killer wants to turn David into a superhero, hence the Unbreakable comparison. This plot point takes the film into a place of being too self-aware, specifically thinking of a dramatic scene where David calls out a group as comic losers, only to learn of their respectable and successful professions.

There are so many oddities in the film, ranging from the Chief of Homicide who is shown frequently participating in her cosplay hobby, to the weird sexual tension between her and David, and then to the inconsistent treatment of Spanish Jack Black. By its end, I was so confused by what this movie was supposed to be that I had to check on other reviews (which I do not normally do prior to writing my own) and found that many reviewed it as a satire film, a la Scary Movie. If that is the case, then it would've benefited from digging deeper into that style, because it felt too serious at times for a satire and too goofy to be a drama.

Of course, these could all be mute points as a lot of the dialogue intention and even tone of the film could have been lost in translation as it was dubbed in English. Even so, as a comic book fan, the plot had too much promise to be left to a satire. Perhaps the movie should've pulled more from “The Dark Knight” so it would have learned “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”.

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RATING: ⭐ ⭐

Strengths:

1. The concept had a lot of promise

2. The characters are likable

Weaknesses:

1. Poor advertisement of what the movie is supposed to be

2. Inconsistent tones and genre mixing

3. Waste of a cool concept

4. Felt too trope-y