'7 Boxes': A pulse-pounding thriller from Paraguay
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: B+] Victor (Celso Franco) wants a cell phone with a camera. He gets the opportunity to earn enough money to buy one — all he has to do is deliver the titular seven boxes.
City Paper grade: B+
Victor (Celso Franco), the resourceful teenage hero of the Paraguayan action-suspense film 7 Boxes, wants a cell phone with a camera. He gets the opportunity to earn enough money to buy one — all he has to do is deliver the titular seven boxes. Of course, this task is not as easy as it sounds; obstacles and subterfuge all lie in Victor’s path. Moreover, the contents of the boxes are illegal, and sought by both the police and a pushcart operator who thought the job was his. Nimbly directed by Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori, this fast-paced film, which unfolds over the course of one day, sacrifices character development for gritty atmosphere. But this should not bother viewers who become engrossed with the plot and all its delicious twists. As Victor and the other characters experience various reversals of fortune, 7 Boxes turns into a ramshackle but nonstop thrill ride. Maneglia and Schembori infuse their simple story with pulse-pounding chase sequences and unexpected deaths that keep Victor — and viewers — on tenterhooks. This frenetic thriller benefits from Franco’s ingratiating performance as well as the few moments when it slows down and the video-obsessed Victor stops, only to be awestruck by what he sees on TV.
