Nothing is valuable until someone says it is. This may seem obvious, but entire systems are built around what society (locally or globally) deems as worthy of monetary value. It’s why everything from the obvious (gold and jewels) to the niche (Beanie Babies and Funko Pops) can be sought and hunted for, raising and destroying empires in the quest for them. Now, this isn’t to suggest that someone is going to lose their life over an ultra-rare Funko, but there could one day be circumstances in which the providence of such an item might sky-rocket in perceived value simply by it being owned by a special individual. In this way, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” isn’t just an idiom, but the driving force in actor/co-writer/director Bruno Martín’s (Herederos de la revolución) latest feature, Luger, having its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025 in the Next Wave section. A lean and mean action drama, Luger is a high-stakes game in which possession doesn’t determine ownership, where lives hang in the balance, and defining bravery comes into sharp relief.
L-R: Ángel Acero as Juan, Ana Turpin as Ángela, David Sainz as Rafa, and Mario Mayo as Toni in LUGER. Photo courtesy of La Dalia Films.
Rafa and Toni (David Sainz and Mario Mayo, respectively) believe they’ve been hired for a routine retrieval job: meet a client, get the full sense of things, and get the property back. In this case, that means beating up a few guys in order to bring the client’s, Juan’s (Ángel Acero), car back to him. What they and their employer, lawyer Ángela (Ana Turpin), don’t realize is that Juan is after more than his car and that what he seeks has been swapped for a luger in a lockbox. In trying to get Juan’s stuff back, Rafa and Toni find themselves in a fight for their lives that will push their long friendship to its brink.
L-R: Mario Mayo as Toni, Ana Turpin as Ángela, Ángel Acero as Juan, and David Sainz as Rafa in LUGER. Photo courtesy of La Dalia Films.
As the production cards appear and Luger gets underway, the propulsive yet simple score signals to the audience that they’re in for a ride. With just a couple of beats in repetition supported by violin strings, underscored ever so lightly, we’re clued in that we’re in for a romp similar to that of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch (2000). Playful yet serious, pleasant to hear yet brief, this introductory score will appear and reappear throughout Luger like a theme for Rafa and Toni, each reprise or refrain indicative of a journey not yet complete and theirs is a journey whose ill-defined origins create the opportunity for absolute chaos. This introduction conveys to the audience, well before we meet our characters officially, well before blood begins to flow, that intelligence and caution (not fury) is going to win the day, the music being of careful operators and not rottweilers abused and off a chain. This is a small piece of a larger technical approach that courses through Luger, helping to elevate the narrative beyond a simplistic MacGuffin hunt. By and large, that’s what Luger is, a MacGuffin hunt combined with a wrong place/wrong time spin; but that’s not *all* it is and Martín’s direction, Martín and Santiago Taboada’s script, the performances from the cast, David Hebrero’s (Everyone Will Burn) cinematography, and Joaquín Ortega’s (Polar; As Silence Passes By) stunt direction working in concert convey this. For his first-time feature as a director, Martín has Luger firing on all cylinders all the time, with each portion supporting the others.
Without spoiling too much, the script is a slow escalation from start to finish with a series of small bursts of creative violence that will perpetually shift the way you see the characters. The opening sequence wherein we meet Rafa, Toni, and Juan suggests smooth operators, a combination retrieval/hitter team that is able to think and punch its way through most situations. Sainz (Fogueo) infuses Rafa with a sense that he knows he’s perpetually out of his depth by virtue of his complexion setting him apart from other Spaniards, requiring him to be constantly paying attention to his surroundings. So, when Rafa demonstrates an ease with reading cues and situations, quickly calculating odds and figures, we not only buy-in, we understand without it ever being explained. Likewise, the script positions Toni where he could be a simpleton, only good for throwing punches (all brawn, no EQ), an area where Rafa is less useful, except not only does Mayo (I’ll Crush Y’all) insert a soulfulness within Toni, he does so without sacrificing the emotional weight of any particular moment. This ultimately translates to a working relationship we come to understand as meaningful to them both and that can be done without much dialogue (again, conveying a sense of synchronicity between them), which enables us to understand the weight of things, both to them as individuals and as a group, when that relationship is threatened. Without these performances elevating the words off the page, one might struggle to invest as deeply.
L-R: Mario Mayo as Toni, Ángel Acero as Juan, Guille Garabato as Candado, and David Sainz as Rafa in LUGER. Photo courtesy of La Dalia Films.
Moments where Luger demonstrates itself as truly special also come through in the cinematography and stunt work. In the first stunt sequence that kicks off the action of the film, Toni takes on several people in a restaurant before moving to Rafa’s position to offer aid. With the camera moving in an extended take, not only do we get to clearly observe Toni’s capabilities (thereby amplifying tension when Toni finds himself struggling against opponents at any later time), the camera moves through the space so that we can observe the action clearly, making all the action we see in-frame versus executed with cuts. Later, in a sequence that’s primarily dialogue between three characters including Martín’s (The Last Train to Rock’n’Roll) Charly, the tension of the moment grows thicker upon realizing that Hebrero is moving the camera around the table the characters sit at, creating a sense of unpredictability that several smaller takes with cuts for coverage wouldn’t. It’s such a subtle move by Hebrero that one might not even realize that a long-take has occurred because you’re so busy holding your breath. Whether the stunts involve gun shots, blade slices, or old school fisticuffs, the violence within the world of Luger almost always comes at a steep price, an element that imbues the whole of the film with a sense of permanence that makes any dire situation worse.
L-R: Mauricio Morales as Fede, David Sainz as Rafa, and Bruno Martín as Charly in LUGER. Photo courtesy of La Dalia Films.
At the time of this publishing, Fantastic Fest has closed and Luger earned a special mention for its submitted category. Even without having seen the Best Picture and Best Director winner titles, that Luger was included means that others saw within it what this reviewer does: a bone-crushing, soul-destroying crime thriller wherein surviving the day may just mean outlasting your opponents. The victory may be short-lived and briefly sweet, but it’s a victory all the same. More than this, through the journey, we, like the characters, are confronted with the value we place on things, what we’re willing to do to acquire what we find valuable, and what parts of ourselves are we willing to sacrifice. The tears shred within Luger may very well also be your own. Whether you come away from the film feeling like you’ve watched a classic Ritchie film or Jason Statham (Crank; The Transporter) adventure, you know for sure that you just witnessed something special.
Screened during Fantastic Fest 2025.
For more information, head either to the official Luger Fantastic Fest webpage or film website.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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