Set in Spain's transition years from dictatorship to democracy, Alberto Rodríguez's thriller "La isla mínima" ("Marshland" in English) has a plot as murky as its location. It focuses on a pair of ideologically opposed detectives investigating murders of girls in an isolated town on the Guadalquivir Marshes. All sorts of intrigue abounds as the two try to find out what's going on.This is the first of Alberto Rodríguez's movies that I've seen, and I'm impressed. No high action or cheap shocks, just the mystery and political issues. The marshland itself, located not far from Seville, looks like brain tissue from above, but could serve as a metaphor for the gloomy world that the detectives inhabit. Not a masterpiece, but worth seeing.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. I knew it had had comparisons with True Detective and it was very similar in setting (desolate and expansive) and the atmosphere/relationship between the two detectives. The actors, especially Pedro (the younger detective) were perfectly cast. Pedro almost underacted, but that set a kind of thought provoking atmosphere and worked really well against Juan, the other 'old regime' detective. One thing I've wondered about since watching it is the urinary tract infection Juan seemed to be suffering with that was just one of a few threads that were never really answered and because they weren't central to the plot you didn't feel they needed to be. Great film either. There's life in Spanish cinema beyond Almodovar. Thanks God!

This is one of those rare but fantastic thrillers where the locations and weather conditions form an equally important – if not even more important – protagonist as the leading actors/actresses. So, in fact, "La Isla Mínima" hasn't got two but three lead actors: Javier Gutiérrez, Raùl Arévalo and the mesmerizing Southern Andalusian filming location during a hot and moist summer! And there's another peculiar oddity that contributes to the unique and unsettling atmosphere of the film, namely that the events take place in the year 1980. We see quite a lot of thrillers nowadays that take place in the eighties, and usually scriptwriters do this because they want to avoid inserting new technologies like mobile phones or internet, but here it serves another and very particular purpose. The time accurately depicts a nation stuck in a vast identity crisis; Spain licking its wounds and slowly recovering from the Franco dictatorship period. Here, in a small community amidst the Andalusia marshlands, two detectives from Seville are investigating the disappearance of two teenage girls – sisters – during the annual town's carnival. The detectives are complete opposites. Pedro is young, ambitious and obeys the rules as much as possible, whereas Juan is experienced but cocky, struggling with his health and addictions and his methods to obtain information are often quite rough and unorthodox. Yes, admittedly the forced collaboration between two completely opposite police personalities is one of the biggest and most overused clichés in cinematic history, but in "La Isla Mínima" it doesn't feel derivative or annoying for even one second. Probably this is because the sober but clever script never urges you to pick a favorite or influences you to like/dislike one or the other. Both Juan and Pedro are intelligent, brave and determined police officers, albeit in their own introvert/extrovert styles. The two quickly discover that the missing (most certainly murdered) girls aren't the first victims and that there's a serial killer at large in the marshlands since a couple of years already, but then their investigation jams completely. The atmosphere and underlying suspense of "La Isla Mínima" is unfathomable! The pacing is incredibly slow, but that's perfectly fine since the Andalusian temperatures wouldn't even allow for a speedy pacing, but the tension is continuous and absorbing. This Spanish instant-classic often gets compared to the prestigious American hit-series "True Detective", which apparently is a huge compliment (I haven't seen it yet myself), but I'm confident to state that it is probably also a huge compliment for "True Detective" to get compared to "La Isla Mínima". The cinematography is often just downright phenomenal; just look at those opening sequences for instance, which are shot from a helicopter or something and make the dreamy landscapes like beautiful paintings. Make no mistake, since there are a handful of really tense sequences that bring you to the edge of your chair with suspense. What I mean to say, in fact, is that "La Isla Mínima" is a near perfect film that has almost everything.

I think "Marshland" is a very good film and I do recommend it...but not unequivocally. This is because this Spanish film is very well done but it's also quite brutal to watch with several ultra- realistic looking dead naked bodies...bodies that had been brutalized. In many ways, it's like watching an episode of the TV show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" where you get to see everything...and that's something many of you don't want to necessarily see. You'll have to decide for yourself if you're up to seeing the film and if you are, it just recently came to Netflix here in the States.If you do watch the film, it wouldn't hurt if you know about recent Spanish history. It's set back in 1980...not long after the repressive Franco regime had been replaced with a democratically elected government. In Franco's day, the police could be more brutal and civil rights weren't nearly as important for the people they suspected. Because of this history, one of these veteran cops periodically shows a very brutal side....and witnesses who hold back are likely to get a rather serious beating--even uncooperative old ladies! So what are these cops investigating and why does one of them think it's worth delivering a butt kicking here and there?! In a small town in the marshland, a couple young ladies have disappeared...and at first it's just a missing person case. But when they are eventually found dismembered and there might be other killings, things get very serious. So serious that at one point in the film, even the local drug lord tries to help the police! The acting in this film is definitely underplayed...most likely to make the flashes of brutality all the more jarring. Now this is not to say that the film is slow or bad in any way...just deliberately paced and with music that definitely helps to set this somber, brooding mood. This helps build tension during the course of the story. My only real complaints are about the corpse scenes...as they are intense. Still, the film is so well made that I'm a bit surprised that I didn't see it listed today among the Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language Picture.