The best Germán de Silva’s movies

Six deadly stories that explore the extremities of human behaviour involving distressed people seeking revenge.

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.

In a remote South American colony in the late 18th century, officer Zama of the Spanish crown waits in vain for a transfer to a more prestigious location. He suffers small humiliations and petty politicking as he increasingly succumbs to lust and paranoia.

This incredibly disturbing story follows the exploitation of an apprentice butcher, Hermógenes, and his trial after he murders his boss in broad daylight. Hermógenes, a farmhand from northern Argentina, relocates to Buenos Aires in search of a better life for himself and his young wife, but soon finds himself at the mercy of a corrupt boss. The film is based on a thorough investigation of a real event that happened in Buenos Aires 10 years ago. Almost every scene in the film is inspired by real facts or based on well documented daily practices of the “meat business” and its environment. Both a shocking exposé of unscrupulous practices in the meat industry and a heart-wrenching personal story, El Patrón became one of the most successful Argentine films of 2014.

Rubén is a middle-aged Argentinian truck driver transporting timber between Paraguay and Buenos Aires. One day, at a truck stop, he picks up a young Paraguayan woman, Jacinta, whom his employer had told to take to Buenos Aires. To Rubén's surprise, Jacinta brings along her five-month-old daughter, Anahí.

X arrives in a small town and witnesses a violent act; Z takes the job of a dead manager and discovers that he had a notebook written in code and a map; H is hired to go down a river and investigate a series of mysterious monoliths built on the shore.

Anita is the story of a young woman with Down syndrome who lives a happy, routine life in Buenos Aires, being meticulously cared for by her mother Dora. One tragic morning in 1994, everything changes when Anita is left alone, confused and helpless after the nearby Argentine Israelite Mutual Association is bombed (the deadliest bombing in Argentina's history). As Anita wanders through the city, she learns not only to care for herself, but touches the lives of those around her, from an alcoholic to a family of Asian immigrants.

Marcos and his family work as ranch hands. While his father and brother handle the heavier tasks, Marcos stays home, close to his mother. Each one has their future laid out before them, yet Marcos bides his time waiting for Carnival, the one moment where he can let his true self out to shine. The sudden death of his father leaves his family in a very vulnerable situation. The ranch owner hounds them to go away, while Marcos’s mother pressures him to take over the work in the fields. Nicknamed Marilyn by the other teenagers in town, Marcos is a target for desire and discrimination.

Julia works as a waitress on the night shift of the Comodoro Rivadavia casino. There, she meets Gwynfor, a customer who offers an interesting work opportunity in the oil industry. And so, what starts out as a morning appointment, résumé in hand, becomes a nightmarish journey in the middle of the arid landscape of Patagonia, a space Ulises Rosell uses with the cinematic power of a western, with the inclemency of the sun and the darkness of night ravaging the protagonists. Inspired by the stories of captive women from the 19th century,

A group of working-class losers plot to give an old gypsy mobster a heart attack in order to recover a valuable car. They decide to build a monster to scare him to death. But they're looking for trouble.

Set in the late ‘90s, in the height of the privatizations and the increase in poverty, Postman closely follows Hernán, a young man full of illusions that gets a job at the Central Post Office. There, a colleague teaches him the codes of the trade, but the harsh reality will force him to break them.

The principal at a local high school has developed a reputation among the students and teachers for his unorthodox methods. When he comes down hard on the rebellious Cata for suspected drug use, he discovers there is more to her story. He sets out to help her, a decision with precipitous consequences.

Sergio and his family work in an estate in Argentina’s northern region. When their employers aren't home, they occupy the main house and emulate the life of the owners. Then Pia, the eldest daughter of the owner, arrives at the estate with the intention of staying a few days until her father’s marriage...

Humberto Brause takes advantage of Uruguay’s poor economy by specializing in offshore money laundering. Spanning the fifties to the seventies, the film follows Humberto as he gets increasingly in over his head with multiple shady book-cooking schemes throughout South America, leading to an ultimate life-or-death decision.

Escaping from his criminal baptism, Reynaldo Galíndez, called el Rey, breaks into the patio of the house where Carlos Vargas, a retired security guard, lives. Carlos proposes Reynaldo a deal: he will repair the damage caused and, in return, Carlos will not call the police.