By: Elena Donatone
If you love movies that deliver thrills, mystery and make you wonder what will happen next at all times, then The Magic Bomb (2018) should be on your watch list!
Written and directed by the talented Mexican American Randy Gordon-Gatica, and incredibly and brilliantly produced on a zero dollar budget— The Magic Bomb left me positively surprised.
The movie focuses on Conrad Lopez, played by Jonathan Iglesias, and his struggles in maintaining a secure and stable life in New York City as a Mexican American.
On his wedding day, he finds a mysterious bag in the hall outside his flat and he receives a call by a stranger. The man informs him the bag contains a bomb that will nuke Manhattan the same day and Conrad needs to follow his directions.
When Conrad enters his flat, he finds his wife Clara, played by the talented Nicole Palermo, tied up. And the stranger on the phone is the one responsible for that!
The man is part of a secretive group called Imperatum, similar to Illuminati if you will, that is behind many world decisions and actions.
After this promising starts, the audience is taken back to the start of Conrad’s story and what led to the events of his wedding day.
As Conrad starts a relationship with his future wife Clara, we find out he was involved with Lisa as well, played by Maria Jung, another Mexican American struggling to stay in the country like him.
Although we can see Conrad is very attached to Lisa, he keeps on seeing Clara and the two even conspire together in a very dangerous and complicated plan!
When Conrad starts working for Gus (Kenny Nowell), an old and paranoid man who wants to eliminate all minorities from the city, Clara suggests they pretend to sell him a “magic bomb”. A bomb that would allegedly nuke Manhattan and get rid of all those minorities. In reality, the couple just gives the man old computer parts and gets 250 thousand dollars in exchange! And that was their plan all along. Tricking the toxic man for money.
But unfortunately the plan is more complicated than what Conrad though, and he will soon realise what he put himself into. Nobody can be trusted and a dangerous game has started…
And that is just the beginning!
As the movie continues, mysteries and secrets unravel and you are left anticipating and wondering what is truly happening and how the movie will end!
The Magic Bomb is greatly shot and if you are a fan of New York as much as me, you’ll love the depiction of the city. Many famous landmarks are shown just as much as unknown corners and streets that will catch your eyes.
The movie is very dynamic and it takes the audience on a frenetic journey with Conrad and the other characters, while leaving space to more static dialogue scenes.
Although the dialogue was a bit long from time to time, it was very compelling to watch.
The almost complete LatinX cast was surely talented and they succeeded in making me care for the characters they played. A special mention to Nicole Palermo and Maria Jung, who amazingly portrayed the two main women in the story. Their performances were emotional and passionate. Without a doubt, I’d love to see them again in movies to come!
And the writing and directing of Randy Gordon-Gotica should be praised as he, as previously mentioned, worked on a zero dollar budget! His passion for the movie is clearly shown in every single scene.
The Magic Bomb is overall a great watch and I highly recommend it to anybody interested in mystery and thriller movies!
The Magic Bomb can be streamed on Vimeo on Demand. What are you waiting for? It won’t disappoint!
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