Azor (2021)

This is fantastic schooling in low-key effectiveness following Fabrizio Rongione’s Genevan banker Yvan De Wiel who travels to Argentina in the midst of a dictatorship to partake in several business meetings after his partner mysteriously disappears. Azor is steeped in silent tension, there’s a very brief and effective score that pops up now and again, keeping you on the edge of your seat. It’s never clear what’s happened to De Weil’s partner, but again you’re so unsure of who may not know and who’s lying. There’s a deep-seated degree of menace at the heart of Azor, meaning it’s impossible to know who to trust. The performances are brilliant across the board; Rongione and Stephanie Cleau (as De Wiel’s wife Ines) are particular highlights. There’s no over the top antics that normally play a part in business thrillers; I’m thinking here of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street films (1987 and 2010 respectively) or Arbitrage (2012). Azor is closer in tone to something like Margin Call (2011); despite that films’ stellar cast, its minimalistic one note overnight stay is close to the bone; especially on its release so soon after the financial crash. Azor spends almost its entire runtime in business meetings, which probably doesn’t make it sound as intriguing and gripping as it is. Mubi is fast becoming the most interesting streaming platforms around; not only that, their expansion into film distribution is allowing us access to some seriously world class film making. Azor is yet another feather in Mubi’s ever growing crown. 8.0/10