Year: 2011
Runtime: 114 mins
Language: Spanish
Director: Enrique Urbizu
In early‑20th‑century Madrid, drunk police inspector Santos Trinidad returns home to discover he has been implicated in a triple homicide. A surviving witness could expose him, so Santos hunts the witness while Judge Chacón, tasked with the case, follows the murder trail. Both men soon realize the crime is not simple drug trafficking but a far more dangerous conspiracy.
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Santos Trinidad, a corrupt policeman and a disgraced former GEO member, sinks into a night-long binge of drinks and trouble. After being thrown out of a bar, he presses a waitress for one more round at a closed establishment. The bar manager tries to defuse the scene with a free drink, but Trinidad’s trained instincts surge to the surface; he shatters the manager’s nose, a bouncer draws a pistol, and Trinidad fatally shoots both men. As he cleans up the evidence, an eyewitness escapes, and Trinidad promptly erases all identifying papers from the victims’ wallets, leaving the trail cold and the case darker.
Chacón and Leiva take up the investigation, though the absence of identifiable victims makes progress slow and the initial lead—perhaps a gangland hit—feel uncertain. They lean on the police’s resources to extract the witness’s license-plate history, while Trinidad combs through the deceased witness’s apartment and car. He seizes the man’s GPS device to map shared locations, attempting to mask his own movements, yet a surveillance camera still catches his hidden maneuvers. The chase ramps up to a tense subway pursuit, where Trinidad tries to finish the witness, only to be stabbed by an accomplice summoned by the witness.
As the clues emerge, both investigators realize the dead had ties to Colombian drug cartels, drawing them toward Rachid, a police informer who once moved in the same circles. Through anti-terrorism contacts, Chacón corners him first. Rachid explains that his former associates have shifted from drugs to Islamist militancy, though he has lost track of their exact location. A crucial moment comes when Chacón questions Trinidad after spotting him leaving the apartment complex on surveillance, yet without solid evidence she lets him go free.
By leveraging pressure on Rachid’s ex-girlfriend, Trinidad tracks down and threatens the informer. Rachid leads them through Madrid in a dangerous pursuit of the Islamist cell connected to the witness. Meanwhile, the cell orchestrates a deadly plan, arming a Madrid shopping mall with bombs disguised as fire extinguishers. Trinidad arrives at their secret headquarters just as the attackers place the devices and eliminates the terrorists, including the witness, before they can trigger the detonation. Tragically, he pays for his triumph with a fatal stab wound. Chacón and Leiva arrive at the scene after his death, bearing the weight of the aftermath. The film closes on a somber note, showing crowds moving through the mall unaware that the bombs remain active.
Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:47
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Stories where a morally compromised hero's actions trigger a desperate, self-destructive cover-up.If you enjoyed the desperate spiral of a corrupt cop in 'No Rest for the Wicked', explore these similar thrillers. This list features movies where morally ambiguous protagonists are forced to cover up their crimes, leading to high-stakes chases and complex conspiracies that echo the tense, bleak vibe of the original film.
The narrative pattern follows a corrupt individual whose initial transgression—often a murder or a grave error—sparks an immediate and escalating crisis. The story unfolds as a frantic chase or investigation, where the protagonist is both the hunter and the hunted, trying to eliminate loose ends while being pursued by dogged investigators or rival factions. The journey is typically linear and fast-paced, culminating in a pyrrhic victory or tragic conclusion that underscores the futility of their actions.
Movies are grouped here based on the shared archetype of the anti-hero, the specific cause-and-effect narrative of a cover-up spiraling out of control, and the consistent tone of paranoid tension. They deliver a similar experience of watching a doomed character navigate a world of their own making, blending thriller pacing with heavy moral ambiguity.
Fast-paced investigations where uncovering a conspiracy races against a dire deadline.Fans of the high-pressure terrorist plot in 'No Rest for the Wicked' will find more heart-pounding stories here. Discover similar movies featuring investigations that unravel dangerous conspiracies with a literal ticking clock, matching the fast pacing, tense atmosphere, and grim conclusions of this Spanish thriller.
The narrative structure typically begins with a central inciting crime that serves as the entry point into a much larger web of deception. As the protagonist digs deeper, the scope of the conspiracy expands, coinciding with the introduction of a concrete, time-sensitive threat. The plot progresses linearly and urgently, intertwining the procedural elements of the investigation with action-oriented sequences aimed at preventing the impending catastrophe, often concluding with a bittersweet or costly victory.
These films are united by their core plot engine: a race against time to stop a catastrophic event linked to a hidden conspiracy. They share a specific mix of investigative mystery and action-thriller urgency, resulting in a consistently high-tension, fast-paced, and anxiety-inducing viewing experience that prioritizes suspense over complex plotting.
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