It feels almost unfair to review Kill the Jockey (El Jockey) after having only seen it once. It’s stylistically deceptive – the opening section plays its absurdity for laughs, but at some point, without telling the audience, the movie decides it wants to be interpreted and not just experienced. I felt ill-equipped to make sense of the journey it took me on at the time, and I’m hardly more equipped now. But that might be the best position from which to capture its charms.
Kill the Jockey Director Luis Ortega Release Date September 26, 2024 Writers Fabian Casas , Luis Ortega , Rodolfo Palacios Cast Nahuel Pérez Biscayart , Úrsula Corberó , Daniel Fanego , Roberto Carnaghi , Daniel Gimenez Cacho , Luis Ziembrowski , Adriana Aguirre , Mariana Di Girolamo , Osmar Núñez , Jorge Prado , Roly Serrano Character(s) Remo , Abril
The titular jockey is Remo (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), who we meet as an unmitigated mess. He races for a mob boss named Sirena (Daniel Giménez Cacho), and despite a tortured past and prolific substance abuse, he’s made a name for himself as a top-tier talent. But he’s started to crack, while Abril (Úrsula Corberó), his fellow mob-jockey who happens to be pregnant with his child, is climbing the ranks.
Úrsula Corberó is best known for playing Tokyo in the Spanish crime drama Money Heist .
These first few minutes border on virtuosic. Director Luis Ortega is in total control of the tone, each cut and camera move building a rhythm that immediately puts us on the wavelength of this weird world. And the cast are all on the same page. For a while, I wondered if I was already watching what would be my favorite film of this year’s Venice lineup.
We are witnessing some kind of fundamental change, though the full scope of that change – and whether