The Wait (2023) Review: F. Javier Gutiérrez’s Atmospheric, Though Sometimes Laborious Slow-Burn Horror Thriller
Is F. Javier Gutiérrez’s latest movie, his first since the disappointing Rings in 2017 worth The Wait? Originally titled La Espera, Gutiérrez isn’t kidding about the title because that’s what his movie is all about. The kind of wait that mirrors the slow-burn narrative approach, where your patience is crucial upon watching the movie.
The Wait opens with a pre-credits sequence with two men at a table in a bar. One is a guy named Eladio (Victor Clavijo, who previously acted in Gutiérrez’s first movie Before the Fall) and the other is Don Francisco (Pedro Casablanc). But we never see the latter’s face with his appearance obscured in shadow or predominantly limited to his hand movement diluting a cube of sugar into his glass of hot coffee in a close-up shot. It turns out that Don Francisco is interviewing him including asking about his wife, Marcia (Ruth Díaz) and 10-year-old son Floren (Moisés Ruiz). Eladio is apparently looking for a job, and he agrees to become a groundskeeper taking care of Don Francisco’s large hunting ranch somewhere in the Andalusian countryside.
So far, so good for Eladio, who has been managing the ranch for three years with his wife and son staying together. Floren has since learned how to shoot using a rifle under the guidance of his father but Marcia, originally a big-city woman still finds it hard to adapt to the current surroundings. One day, a man named Don Carlos (Manuel Morón) attempts to convince Eladio to add three more hunting posts from the original 10 to 13. But Eladio initially refuses due to the increasing numbers that could lead to a potential crossfire.
However, Marcia figures they need the money, especially after Don Carlos bribes them with a large sum that’s too good to ignore. The deal that’s not supposed to happen marks the beginning of the end for Eladio, triggering a slow descent into the darkness. A freak accident occurs and is followed by another tragedy, leaving Eladio in complete despair and trauma. Is Eladio’s reluctant decision to accept the bribes from Don Carlos turn out to be a curse of some sort? Or is it just pure bad luck that befalls him and his family?
Whatever happens, soon becomes a lingering moment of Eladio being consumed by grief and guilt both mentally and emotionally. He starts drinking and even seeing things, where the latter includes supernatural elements that may or may not be a figment of his imagination. He also discovers odd objects, one of which includes a goat’s head.
Gutiérrez even includes a bizarre dream sequence at one point, filled with gore and a dash of body-horror visuals. I have to admit that some scenes meant to give this otherwise quiet movie a jolt feel forceful at times, resulting in his mix of slow-burn, neo-Western revenge thriller and supernatural-horror tropes clashing against each other.
The unhurried pacing can be a turn-off for some viewers but the beauty of slowing things down allows Gutiérrez to create the atmospheric dread. Miguel Ángel Mora’s cinematography on the sun-baked landscape of the Andalusian countryside and the nighttime scene capture the loneliness and isolation that reflects Victor Clavijo’s character. Gutiérrez knows well how to frame a scene, particularly his flair for enigmatic close-up shots and specific visual details like the wooden clothespins scattering all over the ground.
As for the acting, Clavijo excels in his minimalist lead role as the illiterate Eladio who doesn’t speak much, relying on his facial expression and body language to convey his feelings and emotions. The Wait culminates in a bleak ending that is a subject of debate but personally, I find the payoff rather anticlimactic, especially after investing in the long journey of Eladio’s plights. At least the good news is that Gutiérrez’s latest movie doesn’t suffer another debacle as bad as Rings.
