There’s been some great cinema coming out of Argentina in recent years, now joined by On The 3rd Day (2021), a clever and carefully-structured horror film which successfully incorporates several horror tropes without settling into a rut. Taking first one route and then another, the film makes you doubt your allegiances and presents several narrative strands, bringing all of these together as something which is familiar, but feels brand-new. That’s no mean feat.
That all being said, I had grave doubts about where things were going at first. ‘Familiar’ can lead to all sorts of issues. The opening scenes introduce us to an older man, Enrique, who receives a mysterious phone call about his ‘cargo’, which he needs to deliver somewhere. He gets ready to go, moving whatever it is onto his truck: the sight of chains and various other items in his dilapidated house provided some misgivings that this was going to turn into something choc-full of torture, which is one modern trope too many, too often. But, the film leaves him behind for the moment and, in a rather brighter, more modern house, a mother and son – Cecilia and Martin – are getting ready to go on a trip by car. As fate would have it, Enrique’s vehicle and Cecilia’s car wind up on the same road at the same time that night: there’s an accident, and Cecilia is somehow separated from her young son, regaining consciousness in a shell of a building somewhere on the side of the highway.
Disorientated, she goes looking for help and is eventually taken to hospital, where she cannot get any of the rest she needs. Somehow, she and Martin had been missing for three whole days, time which she cannot recall. Her dreams are full of her son, and she hallucinates him everywhere, his red coat and hood strongly reminiscent of a certain other horror film where an anguished parent keeps seeing their child. The doctor in charge of her case is mystified by her, but feels drawn to her: he assures her that the police are looking for Martin, but she’s wary, delusional – and flees. She’s not completely alone; Doctor Hernán (Lautaro Delgado) tracks her down to offer further assistance. Other people have a vested interest in finding her, too, and their motives aren’t so good. Eventually Dr Hernán takes her to a friend who has the ability to use hypnosis. Together, their aim is to fill in the blanks and help Cecilia (Moro Anghileri) find Martin.
The first act of the film is where it is at its weakest, or at least its shakiest, but that is largely down to personal perceptions; on a basic level, there are a few unlikely plot developments in the first twenty minutes or so which feel a little thin, and evidently, safeguarding in Argentina is a very different animal to Europe. In terms of what else is going on, after fearing that this was going to be yet another ‘kidnap and torture’ style of film, I then feared that this was going to be a film based entirely on hallucination, a kind of jaded riff on mental illness, as there are some indications that it could be. Rather, these are elements placed there to lead the audience in a series of dead ends or potential leads, laying down clues and giving hints which may or may not go anywhere. It’s a mystery movie as well as a horror, and once the mystery begins to unfold, it’s hard not to be hooked. The film has a solid pace, making you work to keep up and, once it is really underway, it hangs together incredibly well. You have to love a film that, when the credits roll, you immediately look back over spoken lines and scenes and see them differently, now that you know how they fit in.
Visually, this is an interesting film too, combining something of the blue-tinged, Noughties torture-porn rot and grime with some of the stylised, carefully-lit cult horror of the 70s: indeed it draws from aspects of those decades, as well as seemingly directly referencing some classic horror scenes too, and it’s only fitting that the aesthetics reflect that fusion. The performances are excellent, but full credit goes to Moro Anghileri, who is so able to show the contrast between loving mother and terrified amnesiac – and that’s not all she can do, either. It’s also helpful to the bedrock of the narrative that Martin (Octavio Belmonte) is actually a nice, pleasant little kid, and their relationship seems authentically close.
It’d do the film a disservice to describe it any more detail which would give the game away: essentially, On The 3rd Day is full of different elements and ideas, putting its own spin on them whilst showing a wealth of genre awareness. It’s effective, ambitious, and it’s economical, too, with none of this two-hour plus runtime which derails so many other movies. One further note: make sure you watch this right to the end of the credits.
On The 3rd Day (2021) will screen as part of the 25th Fantasia Film Festival.