7th Floor (2013)

From my favorite movies..

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

"The 7th Floor" is a mystery thriller movie in which we watch a man searching for his children who disappeared after going down the stairs of their apartment on the seventh floor. Since the father is a successful lawyer in Buenos Aires and in the middle of an important case would make sense for his children to be kidnapped, but everything changes after he continually searches for them and becomes more and more suspicious of everyone. I have to admit that I expected more from this movie. Due to the fact that I had already watched some of the movies of Ricardo Darín like "Nine Queens", "The Secret in Their Eyes" and "Black Snow" and Belén Rueda like "The Orphanage" and "The Body" I had high expectations for this movie and I was let down by it. The interpretations of both Ricardo Darín who played Sebastián and Belén Rueda who played Delia were average and I think they didn't reach their potential. But this is not the most important reason why this is an average movie and nothing more. The most important reasons are the poor direction which was made by Patxi Amezcua and the poor script which had, as a result, a poor plot with no twists, no surprises and not good interpretations by a very good cast. To sum up I believe that "The 7th Floor" is an average movie with no many surprises and also a medium plot with some gaps that will confuse you. It's a simple movie to just spend your time but don't have high hopes or expectations by it because I am sure that you will be disappointed.

Sebastián (Ricardo Darín) is a successful lawyer in Buenos Aires and is in the middle of an important case. He has divorced from Delia (Belén Rueda) and they have two children, Luca (Abel Dolz Doval) and Luna (Charo Dolz Doval). Delia wants to move to Spain to live with her father and wants full custody of the children, but Sebastián is reluctant. Sebastián goes to Delia's apartment on the seventh floor of an old building to take Luca and Luna to school and Delia leaves the place. The siblings ask to go down playing on the stairs while Sebastián takes the elevator. When he arrives on the lobby, he realizes that the children have vanished. Sebastián needs to be in court for an important case but he seeks them out with the janitor and his neighbor Rosales (Osvaldo Santoro), who is a police detective. He calls Delia that returns to the building and suspects of everyone until a woman calls him asking for a one hundred thousand-dollar ransom in two hours. How can the desperate Sebastián raise this amount in a short time and who might have kidnapped his children?"Séptimo" is a tense and engaging thriller with a great idea but flawed conclusion. Sebastián destroys his professional life but let his wife go with one hundred thousand dollars and no other consequence? Delia should have an accomplice but it seems that her revenge on Sebastián was carried out alone. Did she keep her children on the fourth floor alone? How could she move in and leave the building with lookouts from the police and neighbors everywhere? My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Sétimo" ("Seventh")

This is a highly suspenseful and cerebral mystery , filled with twists and turns . Mystery , intrigue about bizarre facts happen in a block of luxurious apartments in Buenos Aires . The same team - actor (Ricardo Darin) and producer (Axel Kuschevatzky) , who made ¨Tesis Sobre Un Homicidio¨, ¨ and ¨The secret of you eyes¨ bring us another suspenseful film : ¨Septimo¨ . The picture is interesting and some moment brilliant , and the actors are quite reliable such as Ricardo Darin and Belen Rueda . As a father (Ricardo Darin) gets into a desperate search to find his two children who disappeared while going down stairs from their apartment in the seventh floor . A bit later on , his anxious mother (Belen Rueda) appears upset to find her children . The film contains tension , thriller , drama , mystery and plot twists , including decent suspense with tense sequences especially in its final part , in a unexpected denouement , near of the end . Hitchcock-style psychological thriller , being surprisingly good and compellingly realized . The original as well as entertaining idea is overspread throughout the movie , but not totally satisfactory , including conventional pitfalls . The main cast is frankly fine , such as Ricardo Darin as a wealthy lawyer working for a dark firm and Belen Rueda as his Spanish wife . Darin is an excellent leading figure of the most important Argentinian movies such as : "El Faro" (1998), "El Mismo Amor La Misma Lluvia" (1999), "Nueve Reinas" (2000), "La Fuga" (2001) and especially known for ¨The secret in your eyes¨ and ¨El Hijo De La Novia¨ . Belen Rueda also starred several hits in Spanish cinema such as ¨El Orfanato¨, ¨Los Ojos De Julia , ¨The Body¨ and many others . The motion picture is pretty well , although sometimes stagy and packs excessive turns ; however is entertaining for continuous suspense . Sinister and mysterious atmosphere including a colorful cinematography , as it is finely photographed by cameraman Lucio Bonelli . Suspenseful and stirring musical score by Roque Baños , a expert on dark environments as proved in Cell 211 , Fragiles, Machinist, Sexy beast, Intruders and Evil dead .The film was well produced by various producers , such as Julio Ariza , Álvaro Augustín , Blanca Formáriz , Jordi Gasull , Axel Kuschevatzky , Andrés Longares , Nicolás Matji ; all of them have produced a lot of successes in the new Argentina/Spanish cinema . Being professionally written and directed by Patxi Amezcua who formerly realized only ¨25 Kilates¨ and wrote and ¨Bruc , ¨El Desafío¨ and ¨El Viaje De Arian . The movie will appeal to suspense buffs and Ricardo Darin/Belen Rueda fans . Rating : 6,5/10 ; Good , better than average . It's well worth watching and contains some really thrilling scenes and suspenseful images .

"I'm your neighbor from the seventh floor. My children were coming down the stairs, and I can't find them, I don't know where they are."Septimo is an Argentinean thriller directed by Patxi Amezcua (25 Carat) starring Ricardo Darin and Belen Rueda. Despite the interesting premise and a promising trailer, I was disappointed with the final result. The only reason I'm giving this a passing grade is because of Ricardo Darin's performance. He is one of the greatest actors from Argentina, and if you haven't seen a film from him I highly recommend The Secret in their Eyes. He is a solid performer and in this weak script he does his best to keep the audience engaged with his character. The only reason I cared for the suspense in Septimo was thanks to his character. I was disappointed with the rest of the cast, especially the child actors who are only on screen to look cute. For the first half of the film I was having a decent time and enjoying the thrilling story, but the resolution and twists in the final 20 minutes or so are very unsatisfying and far fetched. It ruined my entire perception of the film, but I'm still going to slightly recommend it thanks to Darin who always delivers. This is just another example of wasted potential and not knowing how to resolve a pretty decent suspense story. The more you think of the film, the more flaws you will find.The original screenplay was co-written by Amezcua and Alejo Flah, centering on Sebastian (Ricardo Darin), a lawyer who is currently working on an important case for his firm. Before heading to the office he stops by his ex-wife's (Belen Rueda) apartment to take his two children to school. Delia mentions that she wants to take the kids to live with her in Spain, but he doesn't want them to be so far away. Since the kids live in the seventh floor they ask their father if they can race him down the stairs while he takes the elevator. This is a game they usually play together, but this time the kids never make it downstairs. At first Sebastian thinks the kids are hiding, but they never show up and the building's doorman (Luis Ziembrowski) says that no one came in or out of the building. Sebastian's worst nightmare comes true when he goes up the stairs and doesn't find any evidence of his children's whereabouts. He begins questioning each one of his neighbors, while the doorman explains the situation to a deputy who lives in the third floor. The deputy (Osvaldo Santoro) tells Sebastian that he should remain calm, that they are probably dealing with a kidnapping, but that the police was already investigating the case. Sebastian finally explains the situation to Delia and as time passes the more desperate they become questioning everyone close to them.The first half of the film managed to keep me interested in the story despite not much character development. The suspense of what had happened to the children was what kept me engaged, but once we got the resolutions and twists it was hard to feel satisfied. Ricardo Darin has played some great roles in films like 9 Queens, The Secret in Their Eyes, and A Chinese Tale, but in The 7th Floor there isn't much he can do. This will probably be one of his most forgettable roles, but he still gives a convincing dramatic performance of a desperate father trying to figure out what happened to his children. He stops at nothing to discover the truth, but unfortunately the truth about this film is full of flaws. The positives about Septimo are Darin's lead performance and the beautiful cinematography which captures some nice views of the city of Buenos Aires. The rest of the film is forgettable.