Oksana Orlan, an elegant-looking fashion model, become an actress, a writer and a producer, will personally kick your ass and break a foot doing it in Dominique, one frighteningly fierce action film. No apologies here, the praise must go on – the movie at first seem to be just another piece of clutter in the endless collection of mind-numbing, straight to VOD releases that everyone will forget after the viewing. That expectation changes dramatically when a first act wasted on introductions and waiting goes in a rather troubling direction. Sadistic bits are after stealing villainous baddies through out the film any character is fair game once unleashed out. Brace yourself for violence, for shock and for grief. This is a place where no one and nothing is sacrosanct or off-limits.
In the barren landscape of La Guajira, Colombia, De la Cruz and Veizaga, members of the notorious De La Cruz cartel, are seen in a red jeep racing to claim yet another target. They downed an aircraft; they assumed it belonged to a drug cartel that was their adversary. Enrique (David M Sandoval Jr) remains in place, as cautious as a mouse, surrounding a crash site. The mechanical remains of the aircraft’s hull are still present as he continues to deploy troops. He keeps it shut and instead, gestures his men to bring out a massive box that is at least heavily ironed with chains. It is very heavy. He insulted them for trying to blast the thing as they can not open it with brute force. They are oblivious to its contents. However, he has an unexpected but adorable discovery at the corded the Pilot’s seat. A pretty pilot (Orlan) who is blonde lies unconscious in the cockpit. The disgusting Hector can sense good for wicked opportunities. But fate doesn’t allow him to indulge in that.
Upon entering San Lucas, Dominique finds a bar to binge-drink in solitude until Julio (Sebastián Carvajal) joins her. He cautions her and tells her that she should be careful. There are bad people in San Lucas and it is a bad place. She downs a shot and looks at the beautiful Julio keener than a hungry wolf when she decides to bed him for a single night. He awakes slightly disoriented the next day and sees her peeping out of the window at the heavily pregnant Paulina (Maria del Rosario) and kids. Julio clarifies that it is his sister and his family all of them. The recent deceased was her husband.
Dominique has a simple story in a present-day set up. All major characters are introduced within minutes. All the good people go to one parquet “Julio, Paulina, her three kids and their old father in a wheelchair” and do not fight with each other, all get trapped inside the nest of vipers. Everyone is very much concerned with the bold woman who has seated herself at the breakfast table. What’s with all the bruises on her face? Where has she come from? Is that bullet inflicted on the matted hair on the left hand side of the lower part of a scalp? Quietly threatening is what one would get from Dominique. She isn’t the slightest intimidated by her present circumstances. This greeeeeeeng’ reasonably is more than capable of defending herself.
The tension escalates the moment the cartel discovers the remains of its missing men. Hector had to be someone of importance. Anyone who clocked in changes in shifts in his services will have calamity writ large on them. No inhibitions are shown, and words are not minced either when it comes to depicting the depths of the cartel or its brutality against those of perceived enemies. Julio ain’t daft. He knows what the cartel is capable of. Dominique is in a bad way when she arrives. Hector is lost. It is not rocket science. Anyone who assist the enemy will be made a ghastly example of. No mercy even for pregnant women and children. Did aiding Dominique out them all and put them in grave danger?
On the contrary, towards the end of the new segment, one of the director/writer Michael S. Ojeda who has previously worked with Orlan in the Russian Bride does not create a discord but rather pulls off a second act twist. People will be avast and so will jaws. What follows is dark, nasty, and completely shifts the narrative. Moriarty is what Ojeda is. A most unfortunate part is that no one can write quite a screenplay like this and fortunately, no one does. He leads one into a sense of false complacency and then backs it up with narrative impact that one does not see coming: a train wreck comes to mind. Molly discovers herself at a point of no return and no further increase of stakes remains possible for quite some time. Dominique must decide whether to act in accordance with her own principles or to allow the standoff to deteriorate even further. This is not a simple task for a person who has always put self-defense first.
Dominique depicts action scenes in a way that astonishes the audience. Indeed she is a relentless killing machine, but in a plausible manner. The antagonists fail to take her seriously, something they constantly regret. How can you be that much of a gringa is lethal? Simple. She uses every assassin’s disadvantage to her tactical advantage. Otherwise, this brilliant lady, what she does is simply mind boggling – and, for your astonishment, very realistic. One does not very often walk into a violent action movie and watch an action hero so careful with every step and every action. Dominique implements the strategy that she devised to the last detail and after that, there are only corpses left in the mortuary.
Orlan is versatile in that he incorporates some characterization with the use of movements. Orlan’s characters perform remarkably with regards to personality development. That’s not all there is to her. She is reasonably ice cold and murderous but not completely Heartless. Julio, Paulina and especially those adorable kids are good positive influences that light up her hard edges. Yes, one can master feelings even learn to care, but these most intimate emotions can also prove to be one’s downfall and bring cracks to her armor. All of this results in a surprisingly decent action film that is unpretentiously hard-core and interesting.
Regrettably, although the finale is very heart-wrenching, it seems like a major letdown in the resolution of the film, since it is explained in still pictures during the credits. That’s probably because it would have burned a hole in one’s pocket had it been shot, but that still is a serious drag. In any case, it should be clear that action aficionados will have to see Dominique.
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