El bar (The bar in the english version) is a 2017 Spanish black comedy thriller film directed, produced and co-written by Álex de la Iglesia. A group of completely different people are trapped inside a cafe in Madrid; anyone that leaves is immediately shot by an unknown sniper. The streets are evacuated, and gradually, they come to realise someone in the group is the reason. It becomes clear that it is a government op and they are covering up the killings under the guise of a fire. Everyone inside the cafe turns against each other. Survival is not guaranteed, and it is unclear whether they will be saved by morality, modern lifestyles or primordial instincts from the enclosed space before matters becomes intolerable. If you’re tired of mainstream cinema and its bank of predictable clichés, here’s a film that feels like a splash of cold water on your face. This Spanish film called The Bar is a fun, exciting romp into the weird and unpredictable, mashing together the genre subversions and visual quirk of Edgar Wright and the sensibilities of oddball sci fi B movies. Set in Madrid, it has the ensemble cast typical of this director. It was screened out of competition at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.
