Dir: Laura Mana. Spain. 2003. 87mins.

This stylish thriller from second-time director Laura Mana is among the most polished that production and sales backer Filmax, specialists in the genre via label Fantastic Factory, has yet to offer. Its recent best photography and music wins at the Spanish Film Festival of Malaga pay tribute to its technical refinement. Foreign distributors face the challenge of translating the word games the characters play, but otherwise this film has nothing territory-specific about it, a fact which could hinder or assist sales depending on distributors' tastes. Filmax has already closed several deals for Mexico (Quality Films) and Scandinavia (Nonstop Films) among others with more likely to sign in Cannes.

Adapted for the screen by Filmax regular Fernando de Felipe (Darkness) from Jordi Galceran's play, the film's limited settings and - as the title suggests - talkiness give central billing to the actors. Dario Grandinetti leads a cast of four and carries the film with a powerful, seductive performance.

Despite the opening sequence - in which Laura (Toledo), tied and bound to a chair in a basement, watches a video of her ex-husband Ramon (Grandinetti) confessing to a murder before promising to kill her too, after having ripped her eyes out - Killing Words is more psychological thriller than gory horror. For this reason it may not draw massive audiences, although it could carve out an arthouse niche and have a longer shelf life as a cult curiosity on video. It also has festival potential.

Having made his gory threat, Ramon rips the tape off his captive's mouth and challenges her to a game of words with her life as bounty. Soon the audience are transported to Ramon being taken downtown by two policemen investigating his ex-wife's disappearance. As he unravels a confession of sorts, flashing back and forth to the basement abduction, the roles of victim and victimiser are repeatedly switched.

In less skilled hands, the high number of plot twists and narrative flashbacks would have seemed redundant. This threatens to happen here at various points as the power-swaps become less and less convincing, but the film sustains its suspense thanks to Grandinetti's unnerving performance. The best scenes are those in which he spars with veteran film and theatre actor Fernando Guillen (as chief investigator Espinosa). Toledo and Eric Bonicatto (as Espinosa's sidekick Sanchez) are both strong yet less commanding than their respective counterparts.

Killing Words is a 180-degree departure from actress Mana's debut feature as director and writer, the magically surreal romantic comedy Compassionate Sex (Sexo Por Compasion), which won best film in Malaga in 2000. Her talent shines in Killing Words in the way she manages to keep this limited and theatrical story moving on screen at a steady rhythm, in the visually inventive shots she sets up within the claustrophobic settings, and the artful transitions she manages with the few props on hand.

The modern, metalic-cold, sterile atmosphere, like the elegant and understated camerawork, are conscientiously pared back to spotlight the actors and create a raw, chill-provoking tension.

Prod cos: Castelao Productions (Filmax), Scenic Drive-Grupo Focus
Sp dist/int'l sales: Filmax
Exec prods: Carlos Fernandez, Xavier Marce
Prods: Julio Fernandez, Daniel Martinez de Obregon
Scr: Fernando de Felipe, Laura Mana based on the play by Jordi Galceran
Cinematography: Xavier Jimenez
Ed: Luis de la Madrid
Prod des: Lu Mascaro
Music: Francesc Gener
Main cast: Dario Grandinetti, Goya Toledo, Fernando Guillen, Eric Bonicatto