Is an evil a consequence of past torment or is it something a person is born with? It’s a question both cinema and literature have explored for centuries. Spanish thriller, The Paramedic, seeks to answer the same question.
A lonely man, a deadly obsession—the plot is definitely not new. The protagonist—ironically named Ángel Hernandez (Mario Casas)—is a paramedic.
You meet him busy rescuing people from fatal and horrific accidents. But this man is far from an angel. A sociopath, he constantly tries to manipulate situations to his advantage.
For a film that brandishes itself as a thriller, it fails to thrill.
Never mind the focus on a character whose hunger for evil is insatiable.
There is nothing that Ángel won’t do. Be it stealing property from victims of accidents and reselling them, or even keeping a macabre memento or two, the paramedic’s soul is as black as can be, with no sliver of light.
While cheating others, Ángel believes he too is being cheated on by his girlfriend Vanesa François (Deborah Francois).
It might have all gone on the same dreary way, but a fateful accident that causes his lower body to be paralysed and forces him into a wheelchair-bound existence, begins to bring out the worst in the ‘fallen angel’.
Unable to take in the darkness thrust on her, Vanesa leaves, propelling the sociopathic protagonist to seek revenge. And in his diabolic quest for revenge, his paramedic skills come in very handy.
The premise reminds one of Dexter, where a forensic scientist and analyst turns serial killer by night to satisfy his own psychopathic tendencies. He kills because he likes it. Despite it all, we almost root for the killer with his delicious dark humour.
The Paramedic offers no such affection for Ángel, and surprisingly, not even for the much-wronged Vanessa. This dark film fails to create the requisite emotional connection with the characters to make you feel truly invested. And the predictability of it all makes this a rather cold viewing experience.
At the same time, the manner in which the storytelling has been economised is the saving grace. Director Carles Torras’ screen language, much like his protagonist’s, thrives on silences.
A lot gets told without the use of dialogues. The superior craftsmanship on display, however, constantly gets cancelled out by the wafer-thin plot.
It’s a film (Netflix) that would have benefitted from perhaps being envisioned as a drama. That would have allowed it time to linger on the subtle commentaries.