Intacto 2001 Movie Scene Leonardo Sbaraglia as Tomás holding a gun pointed at Max von Sydow as Samuel's head

Intacto [2001]

Spanish thrillers are some of the most original ones I have ever seen. Add excellent production values, superb actors, and creative directors you get movies like The Uncertain Guest or Sleep Tight. And while those movies are completely grounded in reality, the one we’re going to be talking about today might not be. Is there such a thing as luck, and are some people luckier than others? I think that most of us asked these questions at some point in our lives, but for Intacto the thing is quite clear.

There is such a thing as luck and some people are just luckier than others. However, that’s only because they steal that luck by touching others. You’ll have to admit that you’re already thinking of where you can stream Intacto just because of this intriguing premise. Well, Intacto with the original Spanish audio and subtitles in English is available for streaming on Amazon Prime. With that out of the way let’s continue. Directed and written by highly talented Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, this is a movie full of twists and turns.

Just as it establishes a certain concept or a setting, it morphs it into something else. Something far more powerful and thought-provoking. And don’t think for one second that just because you didn’t hear about this movie it’s going to be some small indie effort. Intacto features dozens and dozens of extras, stunning sets, and top-notch cinematography rivaling any current Hollywood releases. The atmosphere is oozing with mystery and you can’t wait for the next scene to find out more. I’m already calling it, they will remake this movie in English in the next 10 years mark my words.

Tomás is the only survivor of a horrible plane crash, suffering only minor injuries. As it turns out, Tomás isn’t just a lucky survivor, he’s also a bank robber, wanted for an armed robbery. Before law enforcement got to question him, he was approached by a man claiming to be working for an insurance company. He offers him a way out of his current predicament and into something much bigger. A secret game and a secret society of people who think they’re lucky. Whether they truly are is up to them to prove…

Because of its high-concept premise and slower pacing, Intacto may seem a bit stretched when compared to classic fast-paced American thrillers. However, I will admit that the storytelling could’ve been better and more coherent. It appears that the glue that was supposed to hold the scenes together was running out at times. I guess this is how things work in Magical Realism, a style of writing and art Intacto explores. If you’re looking for similar but more realistic movies I have two movie recommendations for you. The gritty French thriller 13 Tzameti is the first one while the Argentinian masterpiece Nine Queens is the second one. 

As a final note, my opinion concerning luck and the whole concept of it in this movie. I don’t believe that there is such a thing as luck. Everything that happens is just a statistical coincidence. At this time we must make a distinction between two different perspectives. Let’s say that we take 100.000 people and throw them from a plane without a parachute. Then we take people who survive this and make them run through a minefield. If we don’t have a winner at first we repeat the experiment. The guy that survives all this, to us as neutral observers, is a statistical probability and reality. However, from his perspective, he is one lucky son of a bitch.

Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Writers:  Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Andrés M. Koppel

Cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eusebio Poncela, Mónica López, Antonio Dechent, Max von Sydow

Fun Facts: 

Rating:

IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220580/

YouTube player