Intruso

From Vicente Aranda, the director of Lovers, this Hitchcockian, Spanish bourgeois drama is about a trio of adults (Luisa, Angel, Ramiro) who were once inseparable childhood friends. The talented and alluring Victoria Abril plays Luisa, a fickle woman torn between her husband Ramiro and her desire for her ex-husband, Angel. By chance, Luisa discovers Angel living on the streets and takes him in, but Angel's charismatic presence and relentless infatuation with Luisa understandably causes familial strife. Even after Angel is diagnosed with a fatal disease, it's clear that Ramiro and Luisa's fragile marriage is careening towards disaster. The film effectively draws the viewer into the strange, claustrophobic world that these characters inhabit, making their passions for one another nearly palpable. A mesmerizingly dark tale that ingeniously blends passion and intrigue while simultaneously bringing to light the mercurial nature of human beings, Intruso is recommended. (A. Glover)