If you feel like watching something completely different from the Hollywood Formula, I encourage you to check the Spanish movie “The Hidden Face”. If you’re curious about the title, or the movie itself, I’d tell you to skip the trailer and let the film unfold its constantly surprising story as the filmmaker intended. So surprising in fact that I won’t reveal a thing in my review.  Basically,this is the story of a Spanish orchestra conductor called Adrian who has  to deal with the disappearance of his girlfriend. When the film opens, we learn that she has left him, yet no one seems to be able to locate her. Is she dead or is she alive? That’s the mystery at the core of Spanish director Andres Baiz’s completely absorbing film. But it isn’t merely the content that makes “The Hidden Face” so intriguing: it’s the way that Baiz sets up his story and peels away its many mysteries, one layer at a time.  He also understands that Adrian’s mansion is a significant character in the movie and creates a series of evocative mood pieces that accompany it. But it’s getting to know each and every human character that gives “The Hidden Face”  its emotional force.  You want to miss a movie like that? I didn’t think so.

Rating: 3/4