Originally released in Spain as "Cruzando el límite", this is a film that caught my eye after watching 'Boot Camp', which deals with similar issues. Fran is one of those teenagers who seems to have gone 'off the rails' and to the casual, observer would be seen as a bit of a problem/pain or even a spoilt teen. He gets into the excesses of youth and drags his friends down with him - the bad company we have all been warned not to keep.
His lone parent, father is at his wits end and then hears about a programme that will save your child; this is called CIMCA, and for the bargain price of 40,000 per annum your little tike will return home 'cured'. So he has Fran abducted and Fran soon realises when he arrives at his new home that it is no picnic. He is inducted by his house 'Padre' who says this is not a boarding school - we leave that to the English. It is a system where success = reward and failure = punishment. But the lines between what is success and failure are often blurred.
This is actually a very well made film from first time director Xavi Gimenez - better known for his camera work on such films as 'Agora' and 'The Machinist'. The actors are all above par and there are some interesting techniques to camera. It also deals with an interesting subject area and does it more sympathetically and with more believability than the afore mentioned 'Boot Camp'. It would be nice to see some more productions from Senor Gimenez in the future.
