Director Albert Pintó takes a minimalist concept and stretches it to its limits in “Nowhere”, a new Spanish-language survival thriller that’s now streaming on Netflix. Written by the five-person team of Ernest Riera, Miguel Ruz, Indiana Lista, Seanne Winslow, and Teresa Rosendoy and anchored by a gutsy lead performance from Anna Castillo, “Nowhere” takes its audience on a journey that can be as inspiring as it is ridiculous.
“Nowhere” is set in a dystopian society where shortages of food, water, and everyday resources has plunged the world into chaos. This has given rise to a vaguely sketched tyrannical regime who are savagely carrying out their new world order. It includes rationing goods and rounding up pregnant women and children as part of something resembling population control.
In Spain, Nico (Tamar Novas) and his very pregnant wife Anna (Castillo) are attempting to flee the country for Ireland where there is still a semblance of freedom and resistance. The couple pay all the have to some unsavory human smugglers. But through a rather harrowing and down-right brutal series of events, Nico and Mia are separated and she finds herself all alone in a shipping container aboard a huge cargo ship.
While out at sea, a violent storm sends her shipping container plunging into the turbulent waters. From there this mostly single-setting survival story plays out as a pregnant Mia attempts to stay alive inside the floating container with only a small bag of supplies and four to five crates of who-knows-what. She faces numerous hurdles including water seeping inside, a lack of food, and of course her pregnancy which offers its own set of unique challenges.
Castillo puts the movie on her back and gives an intensely committed performance. Mia shows incredible determination and fortitude as her situation grows more dire by the second. Sometimes watching her navigate the dangers she faces adds real tension to the movie. But things can come off as a little too convenient and even borderline absurd on occasions. But Castillo holds our attention and gives us a sympathetic protagonist who’s easy to root for.
Pintó’s direction is solid and he knows he has a good thing in Castillo. The movie lags a bit in the middle and would have been more effective if it were trimmed down a bit. As for the story, it doesn’t offer much depth to its world although what’s teased is interesting. And while “Nowhere” very much tells a survival story, it also has some interesting things to say about guilt, grief, and motherhood. All said, it’s a nice get for Netflix. And it surprisingly does a lot with a pretty simple idea. “Nowhere” is now streaming on Netflix.
VERDICT – 3 STARS
keithandthemovies.com 
“Trapped” type of movies don’t usually do it for me, so 50/50 I’ll watch it.
Ahh ok. This is definitely a lot of that!
On the maybe list only.
It’s a pretty good time-spender. I think you’d get a kick out of it.
5 writers is a lot
YES! Especially for such a film.
5 writers? It could be worse. The Flintstones had nearly 20 writers and man, that was a bad movie. I guess some of it had to do with re-writes and such as well as some weird rules from the writer’s guild.
This isn’t a bad movie by any stretch. And to be honest, the fact that it has five writers is more puzzling than actually problematic.
It could be a case where there was one writer writing a script and then it was re-written by 2 people and then re-written by 2 people. It is sort of similar to what happened with Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas when Terry Gilliam and Tony Grisoni wrote a new script for the film but the WGA forced them to share credit with Alex Cox and Tod Davies even though Gilliam and Grisoni didn’t use any of the material Cox and Davies wrote which is why Gilliam left the WGA.
The first 2 Ant-Man films had multiple writers but for some reason. Those films worked well as they do have re-watchability value. Something Quantumania doesn’t have as I don’t have the urge or curiosity to revisit that film as that was written by one writer.
Makes sense. I’m guessing you’re right.
You will love this movie it was so exciting you can’t turn away and I believe that is the bravest mom in the whole world. This movie is so real life like that you could believe that somewhere in this world it could have happened. You won’t be sorry you watched it and I want to watch it again even though being trapped movies scare me this one was worth it.
It definitely makes you root for her. And she definitely fits the description of “bravest mom”. Thanks for reading.
Where is nico, he is died
Absolutely ridiculous!! Turned it off. She is thrown all over the place pregnant in a container and she and the baby survives!!!
Dumb, dumb, dumb. Cell service in the middle of the ocean. Cell phone still works in salt water. Sure!
Ha Ha Ha. She got better service than I do here.
The phone battery also last for days😃 she had good phones🤣
LOL