The Invisible Guest

The Invisible Guest (Spanish: Contratiempo, lit. 'Setback') is a 2016 Spanish mystery thriller film directed and co-written by Oriol Paulo. It stars Mario Casas alongside Bárbara Lennie, José Coronado, and Ana Wagener. It was released in Spain on 6 January 2017. The film opened to lukewarm critical response and finished with a modest domestic box office, but later found its popularity in the international market of China where it topped $25 million in box-office earning. The film was a commercial success, grossing $31 million worldwide against its €4 million budget.

The Invisible Guest
Theatrical release poster
Spanish	Contratiempo
Directed by	Oriol Paulo
Written by	Oriol Paulo Lara Sendim
Produced by	Mercedes Gamero Adrian Guerra Sandra Hermida Mikel Lejarza Eneko Lizarraga Núria Valls
Starring	Mario Casas Ana Wagener José Coronado Bárbara Lennie
Cinematography	Xavi Jiménez
Edited by	Jaume Martí
Music by	Fernando Velázquez
Production companies	Think Studio Atresmedia Cine Colosé Producciones Nostromo Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	23 September 2016 (2016-09-23) (Fantastic Fest) 6 January 2017 (2017-01-06) (Spain)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Budget	€4 million
Box office	$30.7 million

The Invisible Guest has spawned six remakes in different languages.

Plot

Businessman Adrián Doria is out on bail after being arrested for the murder of his lover, Laura Vidal. His lawyer, Félix Leiva, hires attorney Virginia Goodman, who visits him at his apartment with the news that the prosecutor has found a witness who will be testifying in front of a judge soon; they have three hours to come up with a defense, so Virginia urges Adrián to tell her the whole truth.

Adrián tells Virginia how he and Laura had ended their affair but received a call blackmailing them to come to a rural hotel with €100,000. At the hotel, Adrián was knocked unconscious and awoke to find Laura dead in the bathroom. With the door and the windows locked from inside, the police found Adrián to be the prime suspect.

Adrián then narrates further back. As he and Laura drive back to Barcelona from their cabin, Adrián swerves to avoid a deer, clipping another car that hits a tree. Although they are unhurt, the other car's driver, bank employee Daniel Garrido, dies. Laura rationalizes that it is not entirely their fault, since Daniel was texting and not wearing his seat belt. When another car approaches, Laura hides the body, and she and Adrián pretend to exchange insurance information. She pretends to answer Daniel's phone when it rings, and the driver leaves. Laura waits for a tow truck in Adrián's car, which will not start, while Adrián dumps Daniel's car in a lake with the body inside.

Laura later picks up Adrián and tells him how his car was repaired. An automotive engineer, Tomás, drove by and offered to help Laura, who claimed she had hit a deer. He towed the car to his house to fix it. While talking to Tomás' wife, Elvira, Laura realized Daniel was their son. When leaving in the repaired car, Laura adjusted the driver's seat, arousing Tomás's suspicion about the car owner. Adrián sells his car, reports it stolen, and parts ways with Laura.

Adrián is summoned to the police, as Tomás has reported his plate number. Félix concocts an alibi for Adrián and manages to remove his name from the case file. When the news reports that Daniel is on the run after embezzling money from the bank he works at, Adrián confronts Laura, who admits that she took Daniel's wallet and stole his money to cover their tracks. Confronted by Adrián about this, Laura threatens to frame as well.

Tomás poses as a reporter during a public event attended by Adrián, noticing that he pulls out the same lighter he saw when fixing the car. He begs Adrián to reveal the location of Daniel's body. Days later, Adrián receives instructions to take Laura to the rural hotel with €100,000. Adrián thinks the blackmailer may be the passing driver, who had perhaps followed him afterwards.

Virginia suggests that Adrián could claim he saw the face of the man who hit him in the rural hotel room and that the attacker was Tomás. Adrián then reveals he has always known it was Tomás but he did not tell because he was testing Virginia. Virginia suggests planting an item belonging to Laura in Daniel's car, and claiming she acted alone. Adrián then confesses that as he was pushing the car into the lake, Daniel was alive; an autopsy would reveal he drowned.

Upon learning about Laura's anxiety, Virginia suggests Adrián is lying about her being the femme fatale behind their deceit. However, she says she believes Tomás framed him because Elvira worked at the hotel, and that is why the Garridos chose it for the rendezvous: Elvira could have easily unlocked the window for Tomás to escape after killing Laura, and later locked the window, making it seem like nobody else came in. Virginia says Tomás has been stalking Adrián, Félix and even herself, and points to an apartment across the street, where Tomás is lurking. Adrián finally admits that he killed Laura and staged the scene.

Félix leaves a message on Adrián's voicemail, urging him to call back. Virginia suggests Adrián to return the call during a break, and hastily leaves. Félix tells Adrián that the witness is indeed the other driver, but his silence was bought. As Félix questions how the meeting with Virginia is going, the call is disturbed with high-pitched tones; Adrián realizes that their entire conversation is being recorded. He recalls Virginia turning off his phone. He looks into the apartment across the street and sees Tomás next to Virginia, who reveals herself to be Elvira in disguise. Using the confession, Tomás calls the police as the real Virginia Goodman arrives at Adrián's apartment.

Cast

• Mario Casas as Adrián Doria, a successful businessman
• Bárbara Lennie as Laura Vidal, Adrián's lover
• Ana Wagener as Virginia Goodman (Fake); Elvira Garrido, Daniel's mother and a retired actress
• José Coronado as Tomás Garrido, Daniel's father
• Iñigo Gastesi as Daniel Garrido Ávila, 23-year-old banker and murder victim
• Francesc Orella as Félix Leiva, Adrián's attorney
• Blanca Martínez as Virginia Goodman, a retired attorney hired by Félix as co-counsel
• Manel Dueso as Inspector Milán, lead investigator in Laura's murder
• San Yélamos as Sonia, Adrián's wife
• David Selvas as Bruno, Laura's husband
• Paco Tous as Conductor

Filming

The film was shot in 2015 (from March 10, 2015, to July 12, 2015), in Terrassa, a city in Catalonia, Spain, and in other locations in Spain, such as the city of Barcelona, the region of Biscay, and Vall de Núria.

Reception

The film grossed €3.68 million in Spain. Out of Spain, the film was a surprise hit in China. Initially, the film was not released in China, but it was picked up by illegal file sharing sites and amassed huge downloads. The positive word-of-mouth prompted a local film distributor to contact director Oriol Paulo and discuss releasing it in Chinese theaters. The film debuted on 7,000 screens in China on Sep 15, 2017, eight months after its release in Spain. It eventually grossed over CN¥172.4 million (€26 million), becoming the most successful Spanish film ever in China. 70% of ten reviews are positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and the average rating is 7.00/10.

Remakes

• The Italian-language film Il testimone invisibile (2018) is a remake of this film.
• The Indian Hindi-language film Badla (2019), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu, is a remake of this film.
• The Indian Telugu-language film Evaru (2019), starring Adivi Sesh and Regina Cassandra, is loosely inspired by the film.
• 2022 Korean language film Confession, starring So Ji-Sub and Yunjin Kim, is a remake of this film.
• The Indian Kannada-language film Yadha Yadha Hi (2023), starring Hariprriya and Diganth, is a remake the above mentioned Telugu-language film Evaru both loosely follow this film thread.
• The 2023 Chinese language film Hide The Sea (The Invisible Guest), starring Greg Hsu and Janine Chang, is remake of this film.

External links

• The Invisible Guest at IMDb