‘7,000 million people in the world… or only one?’
The Similars – aka Los Parecidos – is a 2015 Mexican science fiction horror film written and directed by Isaac Ezban (The Incident; shorts: Cosas feas; Subway to Hell).
Main cast:
Luis Alberti, Carmen Beato, Fernando Becerril, Humberto Busto, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Alberto Estrella, Pablo Guisa Koestinger, María Elena Olivares, Catalina Salas, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Santiago Torres.
Plot:
On the rainy night of October 2, 1968, eight characters waiting at a remote bus station for a bus heading to Mexico City start experiencing a strange phenomenon…
Reviews:
“With enough narrative complexity, homages to vintage science fiction and sheer entertainment to justify repeat viewings, The Similars is an absolute treat for genre fans and we highly recommend that you hunt it down as soon as possible.” Jonathan Hatfull, SciFiNow
“Funny, suspenseful, inventive and charming, this knows when to tone down the homage and become genuinely frightening – while working in the sort of social comment footnotes [Rod] Serling sprinkled throughout his show [The Twilight Zone].” Kim Newman, Screen Daily
“The Similars is a deliciously raving mad Mexican film with a thunderous music score … and a healthy sense of genre heritage. See it when / if you can.” John Llewellyn Probert, House of Mortal Cinema
” …a semi-camp yet canny homage to vintage suspense templates. The black-and-white visuals that gradually make room for color, d.p. Isi Sarfati’s elaborately choreographed tracking shots across an impressive depot-interior set, the very Bernard Herrmann-esque textures of Edy Lan’s score, and other clever packaging contributions add up to a kind of lavish Hitchcockian in-joke.” Dennis Harvey, Variety
“Ezban plays a series of wild cards, inspired equally by The Twilight Zone, Aphex Twin videos and EC-style comics (like the one that an impressionable young boy is reading in the film). The result is a surreal assimilation of reality to fantasy, wearing its generic influences (sci-fi, noir, horror, pulp) on its face, while also weaving them into the very fabric of it story.” Anton Bitel, Sight & Sound
Filming locations:
Jochitepec, Estado de México, Mexico
Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
