Film Review: MATADERO: A Chilling Portrait of an Obsessed Filmmaker That is Disturbingly Intriguing [Locarno 2022]

Matadero Review

Matadero (2022) Film Review from the 75th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie directed by Santiago Fillol, written by Edgadro Dobry, Santiago Fillol and Lucas Vermal and starring Julio Perillan, Malena Villa, Ailin Salas, Rafael Federman, Lina Gorbaneva, Ernestina Gatti, David Szechtman and Gustavo Javier Rodriguez.

Argentine filmmaker Santiago Fillol’s new picture, Matadero (Slaughterhouse) would be an interesting companion piece to Ari Aster’s Midsommar. Both movies are horrifically gruesome in terms of their tones and revolve around a group of doomed people who are in a specified location that poses a major threat to their ability to survive. Matadero is about an obsessive American filmmaker named Jared Reed (Julio Perillan) who would go ahead and put his actors at risk and lie to them about every possible aspect of his movie production in order to get the footage he so desperately desires. It’s a harrowing film that will keep viewers watching even though some of the scenes that occur throughout the movie are rather disturbing in nature.

Matadero opens with protesters boycotting a movie premiere of Reed’s film which was shot years earlier and features now deceased performers as its central stars. Fillol’s picture is mostly about extreme class struggles but the theme is showcased in a film being made within the film itself. Landowners and common workers clashed and as Reed tried to make a project which was essentially unable to be made without tremendous risk to the cast and crew, all involved got in way over their heads in a devastating way.

Reed is trying to adapt a 19th century text by Estaban Echeverria into the film he is making in Matadero. Reed’s brave cast is fighting to get the picture Reed wants to make done amidst the backdrop of a society which takes lives and asks questions later. The movie, directed and co-written by Fillol, co-stars Malena Villa in one of the film’s most pivotal roles. Villa plays Vicenta, Jared Reeds’s determined assistant who is willing to put her life on the line to help get great footage that will possibly make Reed a legend.

Ernestina Gatti is absolutely amazing in this movie. She plays a performer who gets urinated on by an actor who is supposed to squirt a water bottle at her in one of the most disturbing scenes in the film. Gatti captured the essence of her part to perfection and was relatable for her fears and frustrations throughout the movie. Ailin Salas plays an excellent part in the movie as well as a determined performer who digs herself in deep by remaining loyal to the crazed Reed throughout the movie. Salas more than holds her own in a cast full of talent.

Why is Reed so crazed, though? Reed, in one scene, meets with his producer determined to get funding and film stock to help shoot his picture to the point of desperation. As others watch him in a car with his producer, Reed tries to make everything seem positive when it is actually frightening beyond a reasonable doubt. Reed doesn’t care who is going down in order to make his picture or does he? And what are the consequences of Reed’s desires to catch actual harsh realities of the world he finds occurring right before his eyes?

This is a politically charged movie to be sure. I only compare it to Midsommar because of the complex situation the new film proposes which is certainly terrifying. It felt like dread and impending doom were foreshadowed all throughout the scenes in Matadero and it’s a very hard film to watch just like Aster’s film was. I didn’t like the scenes in the slaughterhouse in Matadero which were extremely graphic but the relevance of the new movie is quite admirable nevertheless. It’s a hard story to tell and it’s told in a way that demands attention.

Perillan is exceptional in his role here as the obsessed movie maker who would sacrifice everything (and possibly every one) for his art. It’s a difficult character to portray and Perillan nails it. Villa’s performance evokes the quest for purpose in one’s life and in art and the actress does quite a commendable job.

There is a problem I had with the film’s ending which doesn’t come full circle enough back to the events that opened the film to my liking. I would have liked the beginning repeated at the end for clarification purposes. Still, the movie’s ending is very haunting and quite effective in its own right for reasons you will have to see for yourself.

Matadero is certainly enough to keep an audience frightened and makes for an interesting story. It’s a good movie but know what you’re getting into before you see it. This movie is sure to give one an upset feeling in the stomach all throughout but you can’t keep your eyes off the screen even when things get extremely gruesome. It’s recommended if you can handle it.

Rating: 7/10

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