Filmmaker Luis Javier Henaine: Desaparecer Por Completo could not have achieved the dissemination that platforms like Netflix provide today

With an investment of nearly US$2 million, the film Desaparecer Por Completo premiered on Friday, the 12th, on Netflix, after becoming the fifth highest-grossing Mexican film this year in Mexico. Its director, Luis Javier Henaine, spoke with PRODU about the production process of this psychological thriller and the relevance of reaching more than 90 countries through a streaming platform.

“Since I started in cinema, I always wanted to make a genre film, but I hadn’t found the right story until this one came along, written by Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes, with whom I worked together to achieve a project that has as its central theme the loss of senses, and with which I immediately connected because it also includes elements that Mexicans value highly, such as crime news and witchcraft,” he commented.

The director of Solteras detailed that the production process, from the conception of the script, had its origins 20 years ago and had the support of the fiscal stimulus of Eficine and private investment. “We had six weeks of filming and finished in December 2021; in 2022, we started with editing and then post-production, which was complicated because the visual effects were very laborious and we had to balance them so that they were not too expensive because our budget is much lower than what streaming films cost nowadays.”

Regarding how to ensure that special effects are in line with the budget without looking at poor quality, the director explained that this must be taken into account from the beginning of the project. In his case, “I tried not to have very elaborate effects and focused more on the content, with practical elements, and we had to sacrifice some others that looked unbelievable. We managed to have about 150 effects made by different providers with whom we worked.”

THIRD FILM OF THE DIRECTOR ON NETFLIX
This becomes the third film that Henaine manages to place on Netflix, and being an independent content, he emphasized that the platform is not involved in creative decisions. “They have supported us a lot, they are very collaborative, it has been a good experience working with them.”

Regarding the increasingly closer relationship between cinema and streaming, he opined that “Mexican cinema at the box office has been a very complicated issue, always struggling to find its place, but after the pandemic, it suffered a tremendous setback and was unable to recover. Those that have, are Hollywood films, and therefore, we have to rethink what is happening, why Mexican films do not have the same success as American ones, and what platforms have a lot to do with it. It is the convenience of watching content at home immediately after it leaves theaters, which in a way becomes a pro and a con because it also deprives you of the experience on the big screen.”

Finally, he expressed that as a film director, he would always prefer his content to be seen in cinemas; however, he acknowledged that the dissemination provided by streaming platforms would never have been achieved previously. “They are a great tool and window that gives us filmmakers an opening. Although there should indeed be a curation of which films are worth going straight to Netflix because the distribution model has changed a lot.”

The film, starring Harold Torres and the first in the thriller genre, addresses the story of Santiago Mendoza, the best crime news photographer. This profession has made him insensitive and unable to show affection to anyone. One night, Santiago intercepts a call and despite police warnings, manages to enter a disturbing crime scene. Shortly after, he begins to suffer from a mysterious illness that makes him lose, one by one, the five senses. Not knowing what he has or why, Santiago must find a cure for this ailment before the world he knows disappears completely.

In this installment, director Luis Javier Henaine co-writes and directs from an original script by Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes, under the production of Pablo Zimbrón from Varios Lobos, Gerardo Gatica from Panorama, and Henaine’s own company, Moonlight Pictures. It features editing by Jorge Macaya and sound design by José Miguel Enríquez Rivaud, as well as an original score by renowned musician Alejandro Otaola.