''A Perfect Enemy'' is a 2020 psychological thriller directed by

Kike Maíllo Enrique "Kike" Maíllo Iznájar (; born 3 June 1975) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for '' Eva'', which won him the 2011 Goya Award for Best New Director. Biography From 1994 Maíllo studies at the Escola Superior ...

based on

Amélie Nothomb Baroness Fabienne Claire Nothomb (), better known by her pen name Amélie Nothomb (; born 13 August 1967),''État présent de la noblesse belge'', éditions of 1979, 1995 and 2010. Her birth is announced in n° 87, aout 1967, p. 340 of the ''Bull ...

's novel ''

The Enemy's Cosmetique ''The Enemy's Cosmetique'' (french: Cosmétique de l'ennemi) is the tenth novel written by Belgian author Amélie Nothomb. It was also the tenth book published by Albin Michel. It was first published in 2001. Plot summary ''"Without wanting to, ...

''. The film is a Spanish-German-French international co-production starring

Tomasz Kot Tomasz Kot (born 21 April 1977) is a Polish actor. He has appeared in more than 30 films and 26 plays as well as dozens of television series. Education and career He graduated from the Tadeusz Kościuszko High School No. 1 in Legnica. On 17 Nove ...

and Athena Strates alongside

Marta Nieto Marta Nieto Martínez (born 31 January 1982) is a Spanish actress. Biography Marta Nieto Martínez was born on 31 January 1982 in Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous ...

and

Dominique Pinon Dominique Pinon (born 4 March 1955) is a French actor. He is known for appearing in films directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, often playing eccentric or grotesque characters. Early life and education Dominique Pinon was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loi ...

Plot

The plot tracks the pyschological nightmare that ensues after the casual meeting between an architect and a chatty woman in an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

Cast

Production

The film is a Spanish-German-French co-production by Sábado Películas, Barry Films, The Project, and Hessen-Invest Film.

Release

The film was presented at the 53rd

Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear ...

on 16 October 2020. It was released on

Filmin Comunidad Filmin S.L., doing business as Filmin, is a Spanish subscription video on demand streaming service, primarily dedicated to streaming independent films, as well as a production company and film distributor. The company headquarters is loc ...

streaming on 29 January 2021, reportedly becoming the largest release on the platform up to that date.

Reception

According to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, ''A Perfect Enemy'' has a 86% approval rating based on 14 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 6.0/10. Phil Hoad of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be a "well-written, devious Euro-thriller". Sergio F. Pinilla of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a Spanish language monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, considering that the story "works", with the viewer feeling "trapped in the waiting room of that airport, at the mercy of the lurking and morbid tales of a stranger", summing up the film as a "psychothriller that relates perfection with (self-)destruction".

References

External links

''A Perfect Enemy''
at ICAA's ''Catálogo de Cinespañol'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Enemy, A 2020s English-language films 2020s Spanish films 2020s French films 2020s German films 2020 psychological thriller films Spanish psychological thriller films German psychological thriller films French psychological thriller films Films set in airports Films based on Belgian novels