The first teaser and a selection of images were passed along to us today for Daniel de la Vega’s new film Punto Muerto (Dead End). 

Luis Penafiel is a writer who has just finished a novel that presents the perfect crime in a closed room. He has achieved the respect and admiration of all their fellow writers because of the surprising and dramatic resolution of his story. The same night, a writer will be killed, following the same pattern in its history. Peñafiel is accused of the crime, and to prove his innocence, he must find the real killer. In its effort to prove his not guilty, Peñafiel, you will discover that nothing is more confusing than an obvious fact...

Daniel de la Vega wrote and directed this new film, by all appearances a lovely throwback to film noir and murder mysteries from the 1940s. This is quite a change from a director largely known for his pioneering work in the horror genre in his home Argentina. I wrote about his other film from 2018, the post apocalyptic Soy Toxico, when I caught it at Blood Window last December. I also met de la Vega during my trip and nothing about him screamed to me film noir or murder mystery so this is indeed a pleasant surprise. 

Punto Muerto (Dead End) had its world premiere at Mar del Plata International Film Festival where it  won four awards, including “Best Film”, “Best Script”, “Best Music” and “Best Actor” in Argentina and Uruguay.

A couple of other familiar names popped up, Nicolás and Luciano Onetti. I am sure their fascination with leather gloves is what drew them to the project in the first place. While Nicolás serves solely in a production capacity his brother help out further by lending his wonderful musical talents to the score. 

Alejandro Giuliani, de la Vega’s DOP on White Coffin returns. Cecilia Castro is beginning to dabble in production design this past year, working here on Punto Muerto and on Soy Toxico (I Am Toxic). 

Punto Muerto stars Osmar Nuñez, Rodrigo Guirao Díaz, Luciano Cáceres, Natalia Lobo, Daniel Miglioranza, Sergio Boris, Enrique Liporache, and María Eugenia Rigón. Rigón and her ojitos bonitos I recognize from the Onetti’s final giallo film Abrakadabra, though it looks like her fate is sealed very early in the film. Such a shame.