Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Alfonso Pineda Ulloa, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
Vengeance and revenge may just be two words for pain, but some do not forgive and forget, while others remember and recover.
There Are No Saints is the tale of a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit and the lengths he goes to for revenge. It tells the story of a man nicknamed ‘The Jesuit’ who, when released from prison, learns that his wife has been murdered and his son kidnapped.
Becoming vindictive, he devises an elaborate plan to rescue the boy and avenge his wife’s murder. He then embarks on a rampage that takes him from Texas to the deep jungles of Mexico. His journey takes him on a convoluted path where he treads both sides of the law, even as he tries to atone for past crimes.
Texas news outlets are stunned to report that the infamous Mexican hitman, Neto Niente (José María Yazpik) aka The Jesuit, has been unconditionally released from prison. His death sentence was thrown out after the arresting officer admitted to planting evidence. Neto’s contemptible lawyer, Carl (Tim Roth), picks him up with his passport, a bag of cash, and a dire warning: to get out of town immediately. Everyone from law enforcement to rival gangsters has an axe to grind.
Neto, giving an intimidating physical performance that lacks in delivery, is uncertain since it has been five years since he has seen his son, Julio (Keidrich Sellati). While police welcome him home with violent ambushes, there’s a cartel full of Mexican stereotypes that is beyond intolerable and his wife’s (Paz Vega) new boyfriend (Neal McDonough) is a career criminal.
Some plot issues are compensated by powerful scenes. This is a harsh action-thriller where John Wick meets Narcos. It comes from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, First Reformed, The Card Counter), who was also originally set to direct the film, but Covid and other scheduling conflicts intervened. This resulted in the reins being picked up by Mexican director Alfonso Pineda Ulloa.
- There Are No Saints is out on DVD and Digital
