[LALIFF 2024] ‘The Unexpecteds’ Review: An Immensely Charming Heist Indie : Pop Culture Leftovers

[LALIFF 2024] ‘The Unexpecteds’ Review: An Immensely Charming Heist Indie

June 2, 2024 10:43 am |

Alejandro Montoya Marín’s The Unexpecteds is an immensely charming heist indie that is bursting at the seams with its topical narrative and robust character dynamics that will have you grinning from ear to ear.

The Unexpecteds is an ensemble piece, without one piece of this insane puzzle, the picture wouldn’t quite come together. Matt Walsh is perfect as our lead, the instigator that got everyone to fork in some dough for a massive pipe dream. Walsh’s Gary is fun to watch as he swings between emotions and as the film moves along, you start to understand why a group of individuals led by a guy like him would fall for such a Ponzi scheme. A unique group made up of fellow influencer Metal Mike followers: Pati (Chelsea Rendon), Carl (Francisco Ramos), and Kurt (Gerry Bednob).

Outside of the initial group of unfortunate best friends, there are two crucial scene-stealing performances in this picture: Alejandro De Hoyos as an ex-operative for a government agency you don’t want to hear about and John Kaler as the outrageous Metal Mike. De Hoyos is a genuine charmer and a badass on screen as he quite literally kicks some serious ass. Kaler portrays such a heinous piece of garbage, who is easy to rationalize that among today’s influencer standards how he would make it to the top of some lists. Especially considering the Metal Mike centric introductory ad at the front of the film – a laugh riot that is so over-the-top it’s easy to see why it’s successfully tricked some unlucky takers.

Ultimately, the story follows this group of friends decidedly taking on a heist to secure their lost investments after their money seemingly disappears. This premise leads into a fun and fast-paced comedic thriller, as we witness this ragtag team hiring an ex-operative to assist and train them in all things they may encounter while on the mission. Such as the aforementioned Metal Mike or his psychotic boss, Jordan (Jason Konopisos-Alvarez) and his goons along the way.

Montoya Marín’s direction brings his own unique flair to his filmmaking, while accompanying it with notes of such underappreciated cult comedies: Airheads or Fun with Dick and Jane. It shares a tireless sense of wit and charm, as well as a bit of surrealism to the chaos taking place. The Unexpecteds wears its indie nature on its sleeve and has an impeccable amount of allure in doing so. Not to mention, The Unexpecteds highlights a splendid collection of musical artists throughout the feature with wonderfully timed cues, yet another reason to seek this one out.

Montoya Marín is an indie wonder, with his fantastic feature debut Monday premiering as part of Robert Rodriquez’ Rebel Without a Crew for a mere 7-grand, his second film Millennium Bugs brought an even grander sense of wit and humanity, but was sadly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, so with his third feature film, The Unexpecteds he’s truly captured something special through his unique lens – a Latino filmmaking voice that needs to be heard and this heist is only just the beginning.

THE UNEXPECTEDS was originally published on Cinefied.com