BERLINALE 2020 - A Common Crime (Un crimen común)

70th BERLINALE FILM FESTIVAL © Pensar con las manos

Francisco Márquez's Un crimen común (A Common Crime) is part existential drama and part ghoulish ghost story.

A thematically rich and intimate tale, Un crimen común follows Elisa Carricajo's Cecilia as she wrestles with her conscience and life after one seemingly innocent but fateful action. From what essentially begins as an innocuous and uneventful drama, atmospheric tension is suddenly ramped up in the most subtle yet harrowing manner. The action is made more disturbing due to how harmless and naive it is in the present but deepens into a proudly unsettling series of events.

The action’s fallout deepens and worsens in an organic mental dissolution, expertly crafted from lead actress Elisa Carricajo, who gives a tremendous performance. Carricajo showcases outstanding range as Cecilia, a character who is continuously internally conflicted, fighting to understand her own actions. This achievement is on show in all its glory internally, with an underbelly of range. That being said, Carricajo encapsulates stress and anxiety on a physical form in the most visually draining and daunting manner for an effective result.

The palpable tension and the atmosphere are wonderfully woven in a ghost story-esque aesthetic that evolves into a more profound psychological horror. The feature itself has a perfect engagement in its levels of evolution. Márquez's feature is never a one-trick pony; it works on a multitude of levels, whilst also fostering a conversation on privilege and class structure. 

There is a tremendous amount of thematic power incorporated into this picture in subtle nuances that grow and smoulder with a profound conversation on societal pressures, ultimately crafting Francisco Márquez's Un crimen común as an outstanding existential portrait of grief and acceptance with a wonderfully powerful lead performance.