On a torrentially rainy morning in Valencia, six men enter a bank shortly after it opens and commence a hold-up. They don plastic masks that do not completely obscure their faces yet strip them of all distinguishing characteristics, giving the proceedings a frightening twist of perversity. These thieves are clearly human, yet they are acting monstrously.

This monstrousness creates anxiety and strife even amongst the thieves themselves. The leader of the pack, known only as El Uruguayo (played with smarmy charisma by Motorcycle Diaries’ Rodrigo de la Serna), does not possess the same baseline moral integrity as does El Gallego (the always magnetic Luis Tosar), and as their carefully laid plans begin to unravel, sundry betrayals erode any hope for escape from the thorny mess. Who exactly will emerge with “one hundred years of forgiveness” from it is a question that will not be settled until the final shot.

Daniel Calparsoro, whose Invasor exuded such moral and visceral power, is at the top of his game with Cien años de perdón, a superior heist thriller that never lets up in terms of pace, tension or atmosphere. – Jaie Laplante

CIEN AÑOS DE PERDÓN (ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF FORGIVENESS) is preceded by The Lift