Way Down (The Vault)

Way Down (The Vault) reminds us with a certain nostalgia of Europacorp productions in which international actors were cast in European productions in action films or thrillers able to compete with Hollywood productions. However, this Spanish production benefits not only from an interesting cast but also from the presence of one of the best current Spanish directors who signed, among others, The Sect with no name (Los Sin nombre) (1999), Darkness (2002), Fragile (Fragiles) (2002), and co-directed the film saga REC (2007,2009,2014) and more recently the film Muse (2017). Way Down is based on the same premise as the film saga Ocean's Eleven and the film The Italian Job (2003) in which a team must complete a mission or a heist.

When an engineer (Freddie Highmore) learns of a mysterious and impenetrable fortress hidden beneath the Bank of Spain, he joins a team of master thieves who plan to steal the legendary lost treasure locked inside while the entire country is distracted by the Spanish World Cup final. As thousands of soccer fans cheer in the streets and security forces close in, the team has only minutes to pull off the heist of a lifetime. The script by Rowan Athale, Michel Gaztambide, Borja Glez. Santaolalla, Andres Koppel and Rafa Martínez easily fulfills its entertaining duties and above all benefits from a successful cast with, among others, the too rare Astrid Berges-Frisbey (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), The Other (2020) ), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Sam Riley (Maleficent (2014), Free Fire (2016), Maleficent : The Power of Evil (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) (2019), Luis Tosar (Maleficent (2011), El Niño (2014), The Wild Escape (Intemperate) (2019) and in an important supporting role Famke Janssen (GoldenEye (1995), the film saga X-Men (2000-2006) and Taken (2008-2015), Primal (2019)).

Way Down (The Vault) certainly does not manage to compete with the success of the film saga Ocean's eleven notably by its too smooth realization and the absence of real spectacular scenes, but it is easily made up for by an engaging rhythm and especially the very effective duo composed by the actors Freddie Highmore, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey. We will never say again how much Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey is an excellent actress who knows perfectly how to choose the films in which she appears. Of course they are second female roles but she illuminates each of them with her presence. She brings to Way Down (The Vault) all her fragility and her undeniable beauty. This film shows that the American cinema has what it takes to compete with the current big American productions, as it keeps you on the edge of your seat all along the story and benefits from a neat photography.

It is easy to understand that the success of the cult Spanish Netflix series La Casa De papel (Money Heist) was one of the sources explaining the production of this film and we will think in particular of the third season of this one in which an impenetrable and self-founding vault is at the very center of the story. By setting the backdrop of the frenzy of the 2020 World Cup and showing Spain as a European country to visit for the beauty of its setting and its monuments, Way Down (The Vault) is certainly one of the good surprises of this year 2021. Fans of The Good Doctor series will simply love to see actor Freddie Highmore in a successful and interesting role.

Way Down (The Vault)
Directed by Jaume Balagueró
Produced by Álvaro Augustin, Ghislain Barrois, Freddie Highmore, Eneko Lizarraga, Francisco Sánchez
Written by Rowan Athale, Michel Gaztambide, Borja Glez. Santaolalla, Andres Koppel, Rafa Martínez
Starring Freddie Highmore, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Riley, Liam Cunningham, Luis Tosar, Axel Stein, José Coronado, Famke Janssen
Music by Arnau Bataller
Cinematography : Daniel Aranyó
Edited by David Gallart
Production companies : Ciudadano Ciskul, El Tesoro de Drake AIE, Telecinco Cinema, Think Studio
Distributed by TF1 (International), Sony Pictures Releasing (Spain)
Release date : January 15, 2021 (Brazil, Taiwan), November 12, 2021 (Spain)
Running time : 118 minutes

Seen on March 13, 2021

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