Film Review: DANTE: Hugo Ruíz Creates a Darkly Intense Film That Will Captivate and Entertain Viewers [Tribeca 2026]

Dante Review

Dante (2026) Film Review from the 25th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie written and directed by Hugo Ruíz and starring Chino Darin, Ester Expósito, Enrique Arce, Asier Etxeandia, Vicente Romero and Raúl Escudero.

Filmmaker Hugo Ruíz’s gritty and suspenseful new thriller, Dante, is the director’s follow-up to his terrific Tribeca entry from a few years back, One Night With Adela. Ruíz’s new film has all the markings of a late night movie classic with its tense script and roller coaster ride-level suspense. This is the type of movie that could remind one of the work of Scorsese, Tarantino or The Wachowskis. Ruíz expertly pulls out all the stops in a bloody good time that could give viewers whiplash from all the tension experienced while watching it, but in the best possible way. This is the kind of thriller where nerve-wracking intensity keeps the scenes flowing in such a way that captivates the viewer all the way through.

Dante features Chino Darin as a night paramedic named Eduardo. This character loves the night life even though he has other varied interests that he keeps hidden. Eduardo gets more than he bargained for with a crime boss named Mario (Enrique Arce)’s fate stirring up an emergency call from hell that will propel the action forward in the most intense possible way. Ester Expósito  plays the beautiful woman, Mak, who has associations with the key crime lord which makes her ever so present in the action.

It’s not hard to explain this movie’s tone. It’s wild and kinetic and never lets up right from the start of the picture all the way through to the end credits. Eduardo seems like he’s going to be at risk to die at several intervals throughout the picture, especially considering the very unusual situations his character becomes immersed in. This movie is probably more violent than most of the movies the aforementioned filmmakers like Scorsese has made. Yet, Dante is so bloody and over-the-top that watching it becomes a joy in and of itself. One simply cannot predict where this movie will go and that makes it all the more enjoyable to behold.

Eduardo grows to admire Mak over the course of the movie. She’s the sexy, but dangerous, type of character who many people may want to get close to, but are afraid of the consequences because of her associations. Eduardo starts out as just a background character, but he becomes more and more a central part of the action with each passing sequence in this wild and crazy film.

It’s interesting to keep track of those who threaten Eduardo over the course of the film. A key heavy’s son takes Eduardo’s badge from him just in case his dad is murdered. Eduardo is typically in a lot of trouble in Dante, and watching him survive time and time again by the skin of his teeth through using his wits makes for a truly fascinating cinematic experience.

One Night With Adela was a true masterpiece and Dante is pretty close to that level of quality as a nail-biting after-dark suspense film loaded with action. Vicious characters go after one another with a vengeance and a key character is resuscitated only to find out a body part is missing in one of the big mysteries at the core of the film.

Dante is directed with remarkable precision and tremendous confidence. As Mak and Eduardo get to know one another, it’s easy to root for a romance between them, but the action gets in the way of that truly happening. The performances by Darin and Expósito are brilliantly conceived by both performers as they are the two seemingly “normal” people in the film. Mob bosses go absolutely “buck wild” while Eduardo and Mak try to keep their cool in order to escape with their lives intact. Darin surprises more and more with each passing scene while Expósito’s turn is cut from that cloth which makes daring, edgy female performances like this one so memorable. In fact, both Darin and Expósito never come close to being anything less than perfect in their roles here.

Any movie that is set at night (and on one particular night) poses continuity challenges, but this time around, the film’s director masters the art of suspense by making each occurrence more bizarre and more interesting than the previous one. The results are thus extraordinarily intense. It takes a remarkable director to build suspense the way it is created in Dante and Ruíz doesn’t disappoint in the very tense scenes that this movie presents with superb fluidity.

There is the matter of the ending, though. When a key secret is about to be revealed very late in the picture, Eduardo starts to behave differently in a twist that definitely shouldn’t be unveiled here. If the ending is rather intelligent, it is also a bit frustrating as it pulls the rug out from some of the scenes that preceded it. That hardly lessens the impact of the movie’s action scenes which are among the best you’ll see at the movies in independent cinemas this year.

Dante is a harrowing, frightening and bonkers tale of fate and the fight for survival on a night from hell. It tests the limitations of film-making with its high suspense levels and gripping intensity. Ruíz may be one of our most impressive filmmakers these days and Ruíz seems to bring new and exciting surprises to the table with each project. Dante will be one of the most talked about films at this year’s Tribeca Festival, so don’t miss it.

Rating: 8.5/10

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