The Colony (15)
Directed by Florian Gallenberger
3/5

SET against the backdrop of Pinochet’s military coup in the Chile of 1973, this romantic political thriller inspired by true events is a gripping watch due to Emma Watson and Daniel Bruhl’s superlative performances.
Watson plays Lena, an air hostess who goes in search of her boyfriend Daniel (Bruhl) who has been captured by Pinochet’s secret police and taken to Colonia Dignidad in southern Chile. A self-styled charitable mission, it is in fact a sect run by German lay preacher Paul Schafer (Michael Nyqvist) from which no-one escapes.
Although the two main characters are fictional, the depiction of the autocratic and dictatorial regime at the camp is apparently accurate along with the torture carried out on political prisoners sent there by Pinochet. In reality, only five sect members ever escaped from the premises and its leader Schafer was eventually convicted and jailed for sexually abusing 25 children.
It’s a solid drama but I can’t help feeling The Colony would have been even more riveting if it has been made as a documentary.
Review by Maria Duarte

Now You See Me 2 (12A)
Directed by Jon M Chu
3/5