'The Truthers' Netflix Review: Spanish Thriller Is Here To Say The Boomers Are Not Okay

The Truthers boldly states that the boomers are not okay. Directed by Roger Gual and written by Dario Madrona and Carlos Montero, the movie starts off with a child and her mother swimming together. The narrative moves forward by 20 years, and the mother is swimming all by herself. She returns home, after briefly crossing paths with her husband, who is partaking in the search for a missing child named Alejandro. The focus of the film shifts from Mieres to Berlin, where we are introduced to Ruth, a bartender. She is working, partying, and ignoring her mother’s calls, texts, and voice notes. When she picks up her dad’s call, she learns that her mother has passed away. She immediately returns to her hometown and reunites with Martin, her dad. Martin and a sergeant of the Civil Guard, Ballester, tell Ruth that her mother, Lucia, got drunk, slipped in the bathroom, cracked her head open, and died. Martin apparently had to break down the door to get to Lucia. None of that made sense to Ruth, because her mother never drank and never locked doors. Ballester assures that he and his team are investigating the matter, and they will get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, Ruth goes through Lucia’s voice notes, and she is shocked to hear her say that Martin had been acting crazy prior to her death; his behavior was apparently so erratic that Lucia was legitimately afraid of him. This prompts Ruth to assume that Martin is the one who killed Lucia. And the search for the truth leads her down a rabbit hole full of conspiracy theories and terrorism plots.

For the most part, The Truthers plays out like a typical murder-mystery thriller. But if you have watched enough movies and shows set in that genre, you know that it’s not gonna be as cut and dry as the narrative is pretending at the outset. So, you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. And, to be clear, this is not a case of misplaced expectations. The storytelling is engineered to make viewers anticipate the twist. Now, once the movie gets that ball rolling, in my opinion, there are two ways to go about it; either you do a mid-act plot twist, and then spend the rest of the runtime ruminating over it, or you do a last-minute reveal, but it has to be impactful enough to make you want to rewatch the film. Madrona and Montero try a mixture of both of those methods, and the end result is lowkey underwhelming. Without spoiling anything, I appreciate the fact that the movie is talking about the fact that conspiracy theories have become so rampant that it’s having real-world repercussions. Earlier, it used to be stuff like the Moon landing was fake or that aliens are real; but now there are social media groups, podcasts, and video-sharing platforms dedicated to peddling the most mind-numbing nonsense which is eventually affecting politics, society, and more. And, contrary to popular opinion, the age-group that is in the eye of the storm are the boomers, because they don’t have jobs and they are always on their phones. That said, the way in which the movie goes about delivering that statement, and the amount of time it spends on the topic after the revelation, dampens the whole anti-boomer exercise.

The creative choice behind treating a story about how conspiracy theories are rotting the brains of an entire generation through the lens of a murder mystery is great. Murder mysteries invite theories and speculation; so, once you start wondering who the killer is and what might be their motivation, you are transported into the shoes of the protagonist as well as the antagonist. But my problem is that The Truthers spends a little too much time beating around the bush. The conversations are really cyclical and boring. I think those who are completely unaware of the connection between fake news, conspiracy theories, political ideologies, and the brainwashing of boomers will find this interesting. However, if you belong to the age group that constantly deals with all the problems that have emerged in society ever since the birth of the internet, the viewing experience might be a tad bland. The movie looks and feels great. The cinematography, the editing, the production design, the art direction, the costumes, the music, the locales; that’s all pretty competent. However, when it starts going in circles, it just doesn’t stop, thereby undermining the sense of urgency that the plot needs. The slow burn is definitely deliberate, but what are you cooking on that flame? A nothingburger whose meat is conceptual, because you have to think about how it tastes once the movie is over. I know I am being too harsh on it, but that’s only because I hate it when a potentially good narrative goes to waste because of bad writing. Given the current socio-cultural situation, this could have been one of the most relevant movies of the year; I’m afraid it’s gonna get buried by the algorithm instead.

Coming to the performances in The Truthers, Stephanie Magnin is absolutely phenomenal. Her slow unraveling, her nervousness, her frustration, her vulnerability, and her resilience are so very palpable. She conveys the miserable time her character is having in such a realistic way that you wanna reach out to her through the screen, give her a cup of hot chocolate, and assure her that everything’s gonna be fine. Jose Coronado is menacing, heartbreaking, and he serves as a mirror to the generation that’s causing society to come apart at the seams. It’s a very complicated role, because you have to hate this guy but also not treat him as the villain; and Coronado puts his years of acting experience to good use. Alberto Olmo is lowkey the eye candy of the film, but that dinner table scene between him, Coronado, and Magnin is fantastic. Fanny Gautier, despite her limited screentime, is splendid. The same can be said of Mabel Del Pozo; to be honest, her character is so fascinating that I would have loved to see more of her. Alfredo Noval, Armando Pita, and the rest of the supporting cast are top notch. No complaints from the acting department; none whatsoever. Is the film worth a watch though? Oh yeah, absolutely. The theme is incredibly, incredibly relevant. Sure, the execution is a bit wishy-washy. But if your parents, grandparents, or any family member who’s in their 60s is constantly on social media and peddling all kinds of nonsense to support their internal biases, tell them to watch The Truthers. And then just walk away while praying that the message of the film gets through their thick skulls and they come to the realization that they should use their time and resources for the betterment of society.