Victor (William Levy) is one of the world’s most handsome men, but he has a deep secret – he is a cold blooded assassin. Smooth talking and seductive, Victor was raised to do one thing only, which is to kill for money. When he is sent to the home of a brutal drug lord to collect payment for his most recent hit, he encounters the beautiful Sarai (Alicia Sanz), who has been forced to spend the last 9 years of her life with the drug lord.
After Victor leaves the compound, Sarai seizes her chance at freedom by hiding out in Victor’s car. But things don’t go as planned and instead of being transported back to her home, she finds herself free from one dangerous man only to be caught in the clutches of another. While on the run from the vengeful drug lord and his brutal henchmen, Victor’s conscience catches up with him as he risks all that he stood for to protect his captive. In the end, the power Sarai unknowingly holds over Victor and their undeniable attraction may be what places her right in the arms of a killer.
Film Review for En Brazos de un Asesino
Based on Killing Sarai, the first in a series of suspense novels by J.A. Redmerski, the film handles what sounds like a comic-book premise with a serious intent.
The mysterious assassin (William Levy), known only as Victor when he chooses to tersely reveal it, is not only one of the most handsome men in the world — sorry to quote from the official synopsis, but it’s true — he is also one of the most deadly killers in the world, as he demonstrates when he meets a powerful criminal tycoon and shoots a threatening henchman without looking.
The criminal tycoon, drug cartel leader Javier (Roberto Sosa), wants the criminal world-famous Victor to kill a business rival, and so all he can do is laugh at the demise of one of his henchman. Independent contractor Victor is not so sure he wants to do business with Javier, though, even for an exorbitant sum. In the bullet melee that follows, Victor leaves the scene in his large automobile, not realizing that the gun-toting Sarai (Alicia Sanz) is in the back seat until he’s on the road.
As she quickly explains, Sarai is desperate to leave Javier, who stole her away from Spain when she was just 14 years of age. Since then, he has kept her as a prized possession, not allowing any of his men to abuse or molest her, as he allows every man to do as he pleases against any of the other multitude of women who he has forced into prostitution. In plainer words, Javier is the only one empowered to rape Sarai, by dint of his own villainous power.
Victor professes no interest in Sarai’s plight, but allows her to escape with him while he pursues his own course of justice. He is not, evidently, an assassin for hire, but some sort of vigilante for justice, working with a mysterious group that gives him assignments with the goal of cleansing the world of high-level criminal filth.
It’s all a setup, of course, so that the reluctant Victor can fall for the pliant Sarai and then draft her into service as an assassin’s assistant. So, she becomes submissive to another powerful man … wait a minute, is this a romance, not an action picture?
Yes, mostly. As played by the cool, dashing, and very good-looking William Levy, the assassin Victor is a fantasy figure, a Latin Saviour who rescues Sarai. Then he kills a bunch of people, and saves her again, they finally make love, and then he kills more people. Sarai’s heart remains in peril throughout.
Directed by Matías Moltrasio, and produced by William Levy and Jeff Goldberg, the film features action sequences in which the action is nearly continuous, along with an abundance of bullets and blood. As commonly happens in too many modern action movies, clarity is lacking, so we don’t often know what is happening and to whom, draining the scenes of needed tension.
Levy takes his shirt off a few times, which may well satisfy his legion of fans. Sanz takes her shirt and other garments off a few times, often for no purpose other than to satisfy the male gaze. Her character demonstrates a very limited sense of increasing agency, beyond a prostitute’s fearful desire to satisfy a client, which sours the romantic scenes. Is she offering herself to the assassin because she genuinely cares for him, or because she has no other choice?
En Brazos de un Asesino (2019)
Directed by: Matías Moltrasio
Starring: William Levy, Alicia Sanz, Adrián Lastra, Roberto Sosa, Ettore D’Alessandro, Dalisa Alegria, Jean Jean, Alessia Seravalle
Screenplay by: Jeff Goldberg, William Levy
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Sebastian Cabrera Chelin
Film Editing by:
Costume Design by:
Set Decoration by:
Art Direction by: Eli Gonzalez
Music by: Nicolas Barry, Tomas Jacobi
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Pantelion Films
Release Date: December 6, 2019
Visits: 62
