Directed by Óscar Martín
Written by Óscar Martín and David Pareja; Story by Javier Botet
Starring: Javier Botet, David Pareja, Patricia Estremera
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour, 23 minutes
In select theaters December 2; digital release early 2023

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Amigo is a nifty, slow-burn Spanish thriller in which Javi (Javier Botet) is cared for by his friend David (David Pareja) in an isolated house in Spain. 

The opening scenes show David helping Javi into a wheelchair as well as David carrying Javi on his back to get him upstairs into a bed. Javi has been injured, and David is attending to his needs. He helps him when he has to go to the bathroom. David also feeds Javi and bathes him. A physiotherapist, Eva (Patricia Estremera) arrives to help Javi with exercises, which David learns and is supposed to do to help Javi do periodically to regain his strength.

But Amigo is more fiendish than friendly. David’s intentions may seem good, but it soon becomes clear there is more animosity between these “friends” than affection. Javi, as some dialogue suggests, has a reason to be angry with David—he blames him for the death of his wife. In physical and mental pain, Javi wants to die himself. David, however, maintains the death was an accident. Wisely, no details about the incident are revealed, allowing viewers to imagine what transpired. 

Are David’s feelings of guilt prompting him to care for Javi and make amends? Can—or will—Javi forgive him? Amigo does not focus too much on that aspect of their relationship. Instead, it plays up the growing antagonism between the two frenemies as David comes to suspect Javi is exacting revenge and trying to kill him. As such, David is concerned when he takes a bath and he see a hairdryer on the edge of the tub. (A clip seen on a TV of a man being electrocuted in the bath is blackly comic.) When David steps away to get the phone in another scene, he silently worries that Javi may have poisoned his coffee. There are other concerning moments that suggest David may be losing his mind.  

Amigo ratchets up the tension as both men try to achieve their goals. David wants to keep Javi safe, while Javi wants to escape. When a cold snap and snowstorm close the roads, trapping the men (and preventing David from getting some pills he needs), things come to a head. Javi becomes independent enough that he can move around slowly, and when Eva shows up for an appointment and David tries to send her away, Javi tries to get her attention in a suspenseful sequence that showcases Botet’s physical performance well. 

As the two men face off against each other in the film’s taut finale, it is hard not to root for Javi to succeed. Botet, who has Marfan syndrome, gives a full-bodied performance and his gaunt appearance emphasizes his fragility. Shrewdly, David Pareja, makes David’s efforts to care for Javi killing with kindness. One of the more uncomfortable scenes has David force-feeding Javi. Pareja also handles David’s descent into madness well. Both actors are extremely expressive with Botet’s eyes in the film’s striking final shot being especially impressive. 

Amigo is a captivating film about a man who may be holding his friend captive.