It’s a morning just like any other on one of Madrid’s popular squares. A few passers-by are sitting in a bar having a quick breakfast while others enjoy their first drink of the day. Suddenly, one of the customers is shot in the head and killed as he is leaving the bar. Another customer rushes to his aid but he too is fatally wounded and collapses on the street. Horrified, everyone tries to make sense of the incomprehensible events. Why are there suddenly no people in the square in front of the bar? Is there a sniper on one of the adjoining roofs who is firing at anyone who appears in his sights? Or could the perpetrator be in the bar itself? Anyone here could be the murderer and anyone their next victim.
Álex de la Iglesia trains his lens on a group of people in an extreme situation which leaves them no choice but to discover who they really are. Caught between blind terror and confidence, egotism and solidarity, they struggle to survive amidst outbursts of greed, hatred and helpfulness. The bar, its basement rooms and Madrid’s underground passageways become the setting of a story that oscillates between thriller and very black comedy.