Patxi Amezcua (director of ‘Infiesto’): “The pandemic was the perfect element to close the film”

The Asturian mining basin, a missing girl, cold, rain, police and pandemic. It is the starting point of ‘haunted’the new film by Patxi Amezcua (‘Seventh’) for Netflix. “I had the idea of ​​a crime thriller, which I really wanted… then I had the location element, the Asturian mining area, which seemed very interesting to me, with nature and all… but I was missing something. I needed anything more than i would have given him a head start. And when the lockdown and the pandemic came, I thought, this is perfect. All three elements suddenly clicked for me.”. The plot is contextualized during the first days of confinement, when no one really knew how long the nightmare would last or what it would consist of.

‘Infiesto’ stars Isak Férriz (‘Below Zero’, ‘Fair: The Darkest Light’) and Iria del Río (‘The Crystal Girls’, ‘Elite’), who play two police officers willing to overcome the emotions that they emerged during those days of horror to do their job well. Férriz says the pandemic “It’s a success because it works very well as a setting and as an atmosphere, it helps to insert the characters a very concrete emotional moment that we all experience and it is very easy to connect”. Del Río knew this was coming: “During the pandemic I thought we’d end up telling things from that point. And some things were done quickly, that same year, and I thought, wait, it’s still early, we have to digest what happened… But it works here because the pandemic is the context, not the main story”. The idea, they say, is to tell what happened during the pandemic, beyond the pandemic.

Luis Zahera (‘/El Reino’, ‘As bestas’) and José Manuel Poga (‘La casa de papel’) complete the cast so that ‘Infiesto’ is one of those classic thrillers that never disappoint. Also, the police plot in the north woods always works. Iria del Río says so “Both in Galicia and Asturias there is a universe of stories that repeat themselves over and over again. Myths, legends… My family is from the north and I’ve always listened to those comics since I was a kid”. The unknown attracts our attention, the mystery, the fantasy… “It’s like a horror movie in an abandoned house”says the director, “You have to find some elements of surprise, but it always works.”

Netflix’s Bodyguard

Netflix is ​​backing this film, Amezcua’s third as a director, and which, says Del Río, “Always give confidence, you know it will be fine”. But in Férriz’s words “the stimulus is the screenplay. And this film with a plot captures you from the first moment”. Above all, ‘Infiesto’ is a film that seeks to entertain. Without big claims or attempts at subliminal messaging. “For me, as a viewer, these types of movies are very entertaining, with action, some surprises… I think it’s essential for people to remember history. Also, I’m very proud of the whole team and how we worked.”Amezcua sentence.

As for the future, nobody wants to jump in the pool. “Sometimes”says Isak Ferriz, “until you’re filming you shouldn’t say anything, even if everything is discussed and apparently closed”. But the actor has two series slated for release in the coming months, one with BBC Productions and the other with Netflix, and Del Río is awaiting the premiere of Almería’s directorial debut Juanfran Viruega. Amezcua has to stop and think about what he wants to do: “This is the third film I’ve directed and now I have to see what I want to tell. There are several scripts that are more or less ready to go, but directing stops you for a year. Now improvise”. While, ‘Infiesto’ will premiere on Netflix on Friday, February 3.