The mind of a man in captivity can harbour the darkest of thoughts. Franco just woke up in a deserted island on the Delta, and he doesn’t really know why he’s there. As he regains consciousness and takes back control of his senses, he understands it is the place his kidnappers brought him to. But his clarity also brings horror: his son Luciano is there with him. Their relationship hasn’t been good lately, and the fact that the kid moves around with a certain amount of freedom and acts a sort of negotiator between him and the kidnappers triggers his father’s most violent speculations, which Luciano never ceases to fuel with his growingly ambiguous behaviour. In The Evil Willow, Nicolás Sarquís creates a picture of extreme tension with powerful resonances in the immediate reality. At the same time, as it is reduced to its most basic elements, it can be universally extrapolated: the differences between fathers and sons, and that tragic moment when we begin to understand time is slipping out of our hands. –Mar del Plata International Film Festival
