Have you ever seen a movie or television show where the characters suddenly act oddly, only to realize that you are watching a dream sequence?

I started the movie filled with questions about the odd behavior of the two principal characters. What very successful architect misses an important flight to give a young woman a ride? Why would two Europeans spend hours talking in clunky English rather than reverting to German or French? Why would the man waste his time on an odd and talk talk talky girl. Why does the director keep showing shots of the airport schematic? Who is the young woman and why does she want to kill?

Then the movie gave me the answers. Liars dream up stories because they don't like the truth. If they tell the lies long enough, then it REPLACES their truth. But it is still a lie.

The movie is interesting, but the characters are so unlikable and the pacing so uneven that it's a chore to get to the end.

For some reason, there are people who insist that if you don't like something they don't like it means you don't understand it. To prove that I do .... * * * Spoilers follow * * * The girl represents his guilty conscience for killing his wife 20yrs ago.

She appears now because his wife was pregnant, so his guilt appears as the daughter that would have been. The fight scene in the airplane toilet determines if he is going to let his guilt consume him or if he will overcome it. * double spoiler * he wins. I'm on the fence as to whether this means that he forgives himself or is now a total sociopath because at this point I don't care.

Did I pass the test?

I just did not like this movie because I did not like either of the two main characters. If you did that is fine.

When looking at the line-up of the 2021 online Grimm Film Festival, this was the one I started to really look forward to viewing,thanks to the description making it sound like an enticing Thriller. Saving it to watch last from the movies on offer,I got set to finally encounter a perfect enemy.

View on the film:

Taking their seats at the airport, co-writer/(with Cristina Clemente and Fernando Navarro) director Maillo (who is Spanish) & cinematographer Rita Noriega unveils an eerie, peculiar atmosphere where everything is slightly off-centre,from a small-scale model of the airport sitting within the building (whose figures change to reflect the actions of the duo) to exquisite, clinical wide-shot of vast empty space and symbolic ultra-stylised panning shots down reflective surfaces and round multi-storied symmetries , isolating Texel and Jeremiasz together.

Leaving behind the glamour of his latest architecture showcase with Texel following him like a ghost, Maillo closely works with Veronica (2017-also reviewed) editor Marti Roca on criss-crossing flashbacks that open a pit,which with a wise use of limited CGI,reveals the black tar of demons which Texel and Jeremiasz are sinking closer to.

Adding to the off-beat dream/nightmare-logic mood by playing two people in French high society, but in reality neither being French,Athena Strates gives a hypnotic, haunted performance as Texel, whose hazy following of Jeremiasz, (even when he tells her to leave) Strates brings into focus from the brittle revaluations Texel makes on their unplanned encounter.

Chilled by Texel keeping up with every step he makes, Tomasz Kot gives a splendid turn as Jeremiasz, who Kot holds with a crisp, confident swagger that gets smashed into brutality when his past lands at the airport.

Flying from Amelie Nothomb's novel The Enemy's Cosmetique, the writers unleash an intense psychological Thriller, with the dialogue intelligently working on two levels,first from the original appearance of Jeremiasz being unable to shake off Texel, and second, on the huge twists made, cracking open a new perspective on the entire relationship, with flashbacks displaying the links of the past and personal demons Jeremiasz has kept hidden under the skin from admirers,and a perfect enemy.