Sebastian Borensztein’s film, “Rest In Peace” (Original Title: Descansar en paz), is an adaptation of Martin Baintrub’s novel. It is designed as a subtle, emotional, and reflective look at a man who is faced with impossible circumstances and makes a decision to save his family, whose consequence is his absolute removal from their lives. There are palpable elements of a thriller to the film, but the screenplay by Borensztein and Marcos Osorio Vidal is so ploddingly dull that neither suspense nor a whiff of emotional tension can be felt at any given moment. The film is stretched as if to echo the overbearing sadness of its protagonist, yet at the same time, the director is unable to extract any emotional response from us because both the setups and dynamics are sketchy.
The film leans heavily into the protagonist’s anxiety, which almost becomes his identifying character trait. But it stops building further on his emotions as he makes the dramatic decision that would benefit his family at the expense of cutting him off. If the entire second half feels bloated, it is because the film seems to have completely lost all direction or purpose and abandoned its characters to a state of semi-dangling.
Rest In Peace (2024) Movie Summary & Plot Synopsis:
Opening in Buenos Aires in 1994, the film follows Sergio Dayan (Joaquin Furriel), a businessman stuck in dire straits. He buys a gold necklace for his thirteen-year-old daughter Florencia and throws a big bash for her on her bar mitzvah. Sergio hides the enormous strain on his circumstances from his family, keeping them oblivious and happy in their comfort.
He is sinking in massively accrued debts. He hasn’t been able to pay the workers at his factory for several months, which has led to their disaffection. To settle some debts, he borrowed a vast chunk of money from a local lending firm presided over by Hugo Brenner (Gabriel Goity). He hasn’t been able to settle this sum. Interest has risen high. At Florencia’s bar mitzvah, he notices, to his horror, a henchman of Brenner’s. He has a panic attack. This is when he is compelled to open up to his wife, Estela (Griselda Siciliani), about his financial condition, which he can see no way of improving, given all the debts stacked against him with the escalating interest.
When Estela asks him why he didn’t let her know about the circumstances if they were so severe, he reminds her it was she who didn’t bother to ask as he’d often visibly drown himself in medication. At the factory, there’s serious unrest as employees demand their wages and threaten a walkout unless they are paid their dues. A distraught Sergio requests them to be more considerate. Brenner also blackmails Sergio, saying that he’d wipe out his family if he isn’t repaid quickly. Sergio sells his country house. With the money he receives from that, which is not at all adequate, he heads to Brenner’s office. On his way, there’s a bomb explosion that is targeted as an attack on the Jewish community.
There’s chaos and bloodshed all around. A deeply shocked Estela arrives on the spot, looking for her husband. His body is nowhere to be found except his briefcase. The authorities announce him as dead. But Estela refuses to believe him and keeps hoping he’ll reappear soon. After a long time passes, she is ultimately compelled to claim the life insurance her husband had left for them. Obviously, it is a large sum of money that relatively ensures a stable future for the family.
Estela is told by her kids’ school that it is offering scholarships to both her kids as an empathetic gesture to her tragedy. Slowly, the burdens lift, and the worsening circumstances the husband left the family with are ameliorating magically. Brenner waives off the entire loan amount. He lost his sister in the blast. When Estela tells him that Sergio landed himself in the blast while coming to repay him, he is racked by guilt. Soon, he slips into Estela’s family. He starts dating her and assumes a paternal role for the kids. The family gets absorbed into Brenner’s business, and their lives become financially solid.
It turns out Sergio didn’t die but chooses to assume a new identity as an immigrant, Nicolas. He works at an electronics shop in Paraguay, wholly reshaping his life. This is how he ensures his family isn’t pushed to the streets because of his financial precarity. His boss, Gordo (Raul Daumas), dies suddenly, leaving him to take over the shop. While he has an affair with the boss’s wife, Ilu (Lali Gonzales), he decides not to start a family with her.
He yearns for his family back in Buenos Aires. One day at the marketplace, he bumps into his kids’ nanny, Beatrice, whom he requests to keep his existence a secret from the family for their sake. A shocked Beatrice promises she wouldn’t do anything that’d ruin the lives of the kids, giving him her word. Many years pass and the advent of Facebook triggers his desire to know how his wife and kids have been. He cannot help but surrender to the desire to see his family again and finally sets for home.
Rest In Peace (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Does Sergio reunite with his family?
When he returns to Buenos Aires, he discovers, to his horror, that the man for whom he had to upend his life is Estela’s new husband and has taken over his role in the family. He is deeply upset and struggles to make peace with the momentous change. It’s something he had never expected, and it devastates him. He follows the family to a party, where Estela and Matias recognize him. Brenner and Estela pursue him. It is obvious she still loves him dearly. He is unable to confront her, and as soon as he is about to apologize, Brenner shoots him. As he is dying, Estela pleads with him to stay, and he seeks her forgiveness. The touching moment is a declaration that the love between the couple stayed strong and undying despite the two being apart for years.
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