Towards Darkness (2008)

A tense 90 minute look into a kidnapped hostage's life, and the frustration his family, a special ops team, and a man delivering the ransom money all face as they rush to save him. Product Description

Towards Darkness tells brilliant but tragic story

Towards Darkness (Hacia La Oscuridad) is a bilingual (English/Spanish) thriller crime drama based on the award-winning short film "Darkness Minus Twelve", from 24-year old writer/director Antonio Negret. The feature film stars Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera (Ugly Betty and Darkness Minus Twelve) as the love interest of Jose Gutierrez (Roberto Urbina), a Columbian photographer living in New York.

The movie opens after Jose has returned home to Colombia to visit family for Christmas. He is kidnapped, a common occurrence in the country. His kidnappers have threatened to kill Jose if his family does not pay a ransom promptly. The family knows they do not have the money and feel helpless since involving the police can do more harm than good. They turn to a covert American special ops team to help rescue Jose before the pending deadline.

Inspired by the true life experiences of Negret, Towards Darkness portrays the very real tragic kidnappings that hinder the Columbian culture and affected three of Negret's family members. He turned his personal family tragedy and life altering experiences into a multiple-awarding winning drama that helps bring to light the very real turmoil of kidnap-for-ransom that undermines the public face of Columbia as a thriving nation.

The movie begins with the kidnapping and then moves forward with two parallel stories. One shows the effort of Jose's family and their American covert ops team to track him after the kidnapping. The other story goes back in time and shows Jose's life in New York, his flight to Colombia, and his initial (sometimes frightening) encounters with friends and family upon his return. This piece of the movie also offers the romantic component, as past loves, Jose and Luiza (Ferrera), reconnect prior to the kidnapping.

As the race against the clock heats up, emotions run high. The covert ops team works quickly to locate the target while also working to arrange for ransom payment. We also see the ugly side of the violent business underground in Colombia. Towards Darkness is an intense, action-packed, extremely well-written and directed story that is especially impacting because it is based on real events and real life for many families. Negret is a brilliant young mind who has obviously persevered to tell his story. Ferrera is great and the movie in general is well-acted. This is one of the most well-developed, complete movies we have seen in a while. Viewers need to be prepared to watch as it is written for the sophisticated movie watcher. Towards Darkness is brilliant to the shocking conclusion!

Get more details and watch the trailer for this and other upcoming and new release movies at: [...]. July 15, 2008

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