El Fin
After The Invisible Guardian and The Legacy of the Bones we’ve finally arrived at the conclusion of the Baztan Trilogy. With a slightly longer run time clocking in at 2 hours 15 minutes, Offering To The Storm serves as a satisfying enough conclusion for those that have followed the story but is still held back by the same issues that have plagued the previous films. Unlike Legacy of the Bones however, the story this time serves as a direct follow-on from the previous movie and certainly isn’t designed for newcomers. I’m also mindful here of not spoiling too much with the plot as the movie wastes little time getting right to the heart of the drama. The opening scenes show a baby smothered and with it, the harsh realization for returning Inspector Amaia Salazar that this is not over. When the accused is arrested and more deaths begin to follow, Amaia tumbles back into the case again while grappling familial issues. After the traumatic events involving her Mother last time out, Amaia puts everything on the line to try and solve the case once and for all, desperate to put to bed the nightmares that have been plaguing her for so long. Unfortunately Offering To The Storm has some serious pacing issues – a crux that’s unfortunately followed most of this trilogy. Just as the investigation looks to be stepping up a gear, Amaia faces another issue in her personal life that derails everything. While this in itself would be fine, it’s usually accompanied by a lot of crying and sobbing which slows things down to a glacial crawl. This was an issue in the previous film too and with this being the final chapter, it is a bit disappointing. I can’t help but feel the movie may have benefited from some tighter editing. Alongside that, some quick cuts and extreme close ups may have helped offset some of the pacing problems inherent with this. It’s not until around 90 minutes into the story that the case finally picks up some steam and marches toward the (admittedly great) final showdown in the cemetery. Compared to the previous movies, Offering To The Storm is definitely a better venture than Legacy of the Bones and probably on-par with Invisible Guardian. There’s a consistent effort to wrap everything up at the end too and when the final credits do roll, there’s definitely a satisfying sense of closure to this. Of course, those who weren’t a fan of the previous movies will probably find a lot of the gripes and issues present here too. While I still believe this would have served better as a three-part mini-series, Offering To The Storm delivers a moody, methodically paced conclusion to the Baztan Trilogy that should satisfy fans.
