For a film that stars Emma Watson and Daniel Bruhl there's been very little buzz surrounding Colonia, and perhaps it has to do with the premise. On the one hand it sounds like a potentially intriguing political thriller, with Bruhl playing a German activist imprisoned and thrown into one a notorious Chilean torture camp. On the other side is Watson as a flight attendant who must go undercover as a nun to free him. Are we supposed to take it seriously or not?
The first trailer released some time ago didn't reveal much, but the latest footage digs deeper into the plot of Florian Gallenberger's film. Set in the 1970s during the brutal Pinochet reign (seen frequently in the films of Pablo Larrain), the story finds Bruhl as a supporter of the previous regime who is thrown into the infamous Colonia Dignidad, a torture camp run by a dangerous cult leader played by Michael Nyqvist. It's up to Watson to infiltrate the cult to rescue the man she loves.
While ludicrous in some respects, it certainly appears that we're to take the film seriously. Unfortunately, early reviews out of Toronto were mixed at best, which may be why Colonia has yet to gain a U.S. release date.
