Set in 1977 Buenos Aires under Argentina’s military regime, this low-key but suspenseful thriller makes a middle-aged apolitical office worker the reluctant messenger in a precarious plot to prevent the political kidnapping of two strangers. Francisco (Velázquez), a sad-faced family man, receives a call from a woman he knew in college, with a seemingly benign request to publish his student poem. Directors Márquez and Testa keep the story simmering just below the surface, floating subtle suggestions of humor even as they trigger unease and launch the threat that forces Francisco into a life-and-death odyssey that evolves in the dark empty streets just blocks from his home. 

Los Angeles: Opens Dec. 15 at Laemmle NoHo.