“Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow”: noir family film

Much has been said that 2022 was “the year of Spanish cinema”. The same can be applied to animation. After a fateful 2020, in which there was only one Goya candidate for best animated film, the pizpireta ‘La hen Turuleca’, things seemed to pick up in 2021, when there were four candidates. However, it should be noted that these four were the same pre-candidates, implying that the improvement was very minimal. Just this year the opposite happened, with eight pre-candidates, which made it possible to amply reach the quota of five candidatesmeaning that the five chosen had to undergo an earlier cut.

Among them is ‘Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow’, the second animated film by Julio Soto Gurpide, who made his debut in this technique with the environmentalist ‘Deep’. On this occasion, the director leaves the depths of the sea to enter an elegant period film in which insects are the protagonists of a feature film with the soul of an Agatha Christie novel and a 1930s film noir. Set in 1934 Shanghaithe tape has a protagonist with the soul of Hercule Poirot, especially in his mannerisms.

However, Soto, directing a screenplay by Rocco Pucillo, transforms his shrewd detective into an investigator who has simply had luck in each of his cases and whose greatest merit is that he is the nephew of the city’s police inspector. . From there, the feature exploits the premise of the hero trying to recover his prestige, finding himself embarked an unexpected mystery, as he embarks on a journey he hadn’t foreseen, as he missed his flight to New York and had to take another to San Francisco.

From the moment Sun boards the flight to San Francisco, the plot is steeped in mystery, with moments reminiscent of “Murder on the Orient Express” and “And Then and Then Little Blacks”, since the setting is an air travel whose aesthetic is more reminiscent of a luxury cruisewith suspects who belong to the elite, with the difference that they are insects, whose aesthetic is reminiscent of ‘Bugs’, which means that, although the plot is closer to a thriller than a family film, it is digestible for children , who will be able to enjoy this mystery also designed for the adults who accompany them.

Designed for family fun

especially because the mystery is a murder of a rich count who asks for help from Inspector Sun, as he has received death threats and fears for his life. The prime suspect turns out to be his new wife, a black widow, who has already buried 15 husbands and all the evidence points to her as the culprit. But this crime hides many edges, which will gradually be resolved.

That Whodunit spirit, coupled with a rhythm that doesn’t let go of the audience, makes it happen ‘Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow’ is an original and different proposal. His moments of humor are dosed enough not to negatively affect the plot. It also helps that the script exploits the clichés of each character, from the brave detective to the mysterious femme fatale with a good heart behind her. The moments of investigation and mystery solving could very well be in line with the “Detective Conan” cases. It also helps that the reveal of the riddle is surprising, making it possible to anticipate who performed it almost to the end.

And it is that Soto is not satisfied with discovering who the killer is, but also creates a parallel story of desire for power, revenge and desire for domination, which brings the film more in the vein of a thriller than a noir mystery, despite the its aesthetics. The movie goes from being an Agatha Christie tribute to looking more like a David Fincher movie or the ‘Punch in the Back’ saga. A change of tone that elevates Soto’s proposal, much rounder than ‘Deep’, letting himself be carried away by a plot that fascinates the public, who also manages to get in tune with his characters, especially with the intrepid assistant of the inspector .

With proper animation, ‘Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow’ is a real surprise and a demonstration of the importance of co-productions in Spanish animation, being a co-production between Spain and the United Kingdom. A pleasant experience which, without a doubt, lives up to a category which, this year, can boast prestige and quality. Without a doubt, 2022 was also the year of Spanish animated cinema.

Note: 8

The best: His mystery has unexpected twists and a creative resolution.

Worse: His protagonist is irritating on too many occasions.