Hossein Amini, the screenwriter of the acclaimed Drive, makes his debut as director with this psychological thriller based on the book The Two Faces of January by the crime novel writer Patricia Highsmith.

Released in the last Berlinale, the debut of the director with Iranian and British nationality did not cause, however, the same unanimous critical acclaim as, for example, one of the works of the American writer that was adapted to the big screen in 1999, The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella).

In addition to the author and the aesthetics of the teaser, which seems to have been copied, both films share a stellar triad of protagonists. Here, the always masterful Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises), Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia), and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) replicate the psychopath murderer played by Matt Damon, his object of desire, Jude Law, and his modest partner Gwyneth Paltrow.

It is possible that wrong promoting may have created false expectations for Amini’s first feature film. This is because, as the saying goes, “comparisons were always odious.” And in this case, they do not favour him. Basically, his movie already had the necessary elements to engage the audience: high dose of suspense and action, a flawless cast, and a good story.

In 1962 a pair of American tourists walking around Athens engage in a relationship with a guide. The unknown professor eventually helps them to move the unconscious body of a policeman and, absorbed by a growing obsession with the woman, to flee to Turkey. Meanwhile, dangerous secrets from the past surface. A movie to watch with an open mind.

Release date in Spain: June 13