The Similars (2015) (aka Los Parecidos) Review
The Similars (2015) (aka Los Parecidos) Review
In the wee hours of October 2, 1968, eight strangers wait for the bus in order to go to the city, enclosed at a bus station in a remote place. Rain has caused the road closure and the bus doesn’t seem to be close. Soon, the strangers become victims of a strange phenomenon, and they all start to physically look like one of them. Threatened by the paranoia and fear to lose their identity, the personalities of the eight strangers begin to clash and everybody show the best and worst of themselves, while trying to find the responsible for this mysterious condition that is invading each one of them like a virus.
THE SIMILARS plays like a superior episode of TV’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE; it’s twisted, inventive and constantly surprising. Writer-director Isaac Ezban, who incidentally was actually inspired by THE TWILIGHT ZONE when writing this, keeps everything ticking along at a decent pace, never once dropping the ball. He melds the surreal and implausible deftly ensuring that the plot’s concept of everyone ending up looking like the same person (hence the film’s title) remains enthralling without ever becoming farcical.
An astonishingly assured piece of filmmaking that has future cult classic written all over it, THE SIMILARS is, for my money, a work of art and is only one of a few recent films that has managed to jump into my all-time favourites with ease. Literally every aspect of THE SIMILARS, from its production design, sound-work, being filmed with desaturated colours to composer Edy Lan’s Bernard Hermann-reminiscent score, is a joy to behold. Dark, funny and occasionally shocking it’s an absolute joy from start to finish.
The Similars is now streaming on Netflix.
