Unknown Origins Parent Guide

David (Javier Rey) is a police inspector in Madrid, and he’s on the trail of a serial killer. The deranged murderer has been killing victims and posing their bodies in reference to the origin stories of famous superheroes. Unfortunately, David knows nothing about superheroes, let alone their obscure original publications: to that end, he’s been paired up with Jorge (Brays Efe), a comic book store owner who has a near encyclopedic knowledge of all things geek. Although the two don’t necessarily see eye to eye, they both recognize that their priority has to be the killer haunting the city…but whether they can catch him is another story.

This movie has a terminal tone problem. It’s trying to be gritty and realistic and dark, which makes sense for a movie about a psychotic murderer…and then it crams in the brightly colored “Big Bang Theory” style comic bookstore and the associated spandex-clad heroes. Some flavors just don’t mix, and these two go together about as well as raw onion and strawberry ice cream. Maybe the flavor profile is different in Spain, but I’m not sure it travels well, if that’s the case.

The other critical flaw is the protagonist, who is slightly more exciting than dryer lint, but only slightly. He doesn’t even qualify as an audience stand-in, since he mostly just wanders around making bad decisions and acting like he’s the rational one. Norma (Veronica Echegui), the young Chief of Homicide, is a little more interesting but just as poorly written. Jorge Elias (Brays Efe), the Consulting Nerd manages to be slightly endearing, but I have a sneaking suspicion that has more to do with the actor-s big puppy-dog eyes and less to do with a sudden spurt of talent in the screenwriting department.

Unknown Origins is also completely unsuitable for children or the easily nauseated, due to both the graphic and gruesome violence and to the non-stop stream of profanity. Now, I watched this in the original Spanish with English captions, because watching dubbed movies gives me a headache, so the profanity count might vary slightly if you watch it in English, but I doubt it varies by dozens of extreme profanities. Even if it miraculously cleans up when you watch it en inglés, it’s not worth watching. There is a glut of superhero movies, and a comparable number of cop thrillers. You would be better off watching almost any of them on their own – or, for a similar experience, one of each simultaneously.