If La Casa De Papel and numerous other series are any indication, Netflix programming is really fond of serving a twisty heist for its subscribers. And this fall’s entry comes—once again—from Spain, from acclaimed director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo. But should you chase the thrills from this new thriller with a bit of noir and high-concept ideas thrown in?
The action of Collision Course is happening more than a decade ago, in a fraught time for the Spanish economy. Banks started to sell risky housing loans to impoverished populations, who often signed long-term arrangements with no information on the caveats. When the housing market tumbled down and banks had to ask for a bailout, clients could not pay the money back, and massive asset seizures happened, leading to tens of thousands of Spanish residents out of a home. That crisis affected a couple of characters in the movie, but most important is the overarching motive for the heist we see. And it even involves one of the bank directors whose—fictional—bank was front row for the crisis.
The perfect heist often involves accomplices on the inside; and one of the great ideas of this movie is that it is soon revealed that most of the five characters in Collision Course are presiding over the investigation, which has the potential for them to conceal evidence or know when to bail out without a trace; only the heist goes very wrong and messy from the get-go. The group does not leave with the contents of a safe which were supposed to have diamonds in them, but also gets into a car crash. This car crash launches the high-concept element of Collision Course: even though it is linked to each of the five main characters, the way it unfolds is best left to discover for yourself, as this review contains no major spoilers.
It is safe to say Collision Course is heavy on its plot, and sometimes enamored with its twists, and light on character work. We only learn about the motivations and traumas of the characters through the aftermath of the heist, and the high-concept device means that the audience also has to pay extra attention to what unfolds on screen. That also means we don’t have a lot of involvement for the respective lives of Carla (Laia Costa) and Tomás (Tamar Novas), a couple on the ropes, or the motives of retired cop Pedro (character actor Karra Elejalde). But it does not really matter, as the reveals and betrayals are coming fast and furious during the movie.
Picture Credit: Netflix
The photography lacks something distinctive from other heist movies, and the visual ideas are few and far between. Still, Collision Course strives to make a point with its film noir themes of middle-class citizens with scarce resources trying to make a clean getaway by all means necessary; the diversion that lets the robbers enter the bank sees one old man trying to cash in on his (fake) €5 million lottery ticket. Fate and luck play a heavy hand in the movie, but co-writer Ramón Campos (also one of the heads of prolific production company Bambú) and writer-director Sánchez Arévalo do not effectively build upon it.
If you liked Collision Course, watch
The Great Heist
Kaleidoscope
Verdict
A minor, low-key Spanish genre movie that thrives too much on its twists and high-concept elements to really be memorable.