Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. I knew it had had comparisons with True Detective and it was very similar in setting (desolate and expansive) and the atmosphere/relationship between the two detectives. The actors, especially Pedro (the younger detective) were perfectly cast. Pedro almost underacted, but that set a kind of thought provoking atmosphere and worked really well against Juan, the other 'old regime' detective. One thing I've wondered about since watching it is the urinary tract infection Juan seemed to be suffering with that was just one of a few threads that were never really answered and because they weren't central to the plot you didn't feel they needed to be. Great film either. There's life in Spanish cinema beyond Almodovar. Thanks God!

Arguably, a masterpiece. Hung on a clichéd story of 2 teen sisters murdered, and 2 detectives look for whodunit. It plays out slowly but the texture is stunningly vivid. Superb photography, memorable acting, music that asks questions, simmering political undertones. Suffice it to say there's a helluva lot going on in this picture and the more you know about Spain the more you'll know. But how knowable is Spain? As I said, this is slow for a thriller but there is existential mystery and tension. The crime may be solved, so future murders won't happen, maybe. But is there any other consequence? The similarity to True Detective season 1 is uncanny. TD was first broadcast in January 2014; Marshland was released in Spain in September 2014. Even if the latter is just a Spanish take on TD, I can see why it swept the 2015 Goyas (Spain's Oscar equivalent). It was made with Spain blood.

This is a good suspense-crime-thriller. Reminded me the Korean film 'Memories of Murder', but not the same or similar, except the crime scenario and the location. Awesome to see a detective story that takes place outside the urban area. The Spanish countryside was so beautiful, those marshlands, especially from the aerial views.I think the brilliant cinematography is the first thing anyone would notice and the 80s atmosphere. The narration was steady as the crime after the crime with tension arise, while on the other side the investigation advancing till the last minute to reveal the truth.The two cops were so good, along the murder mysteries they're working on. Beside these two men are the characters with riddles. Not only to each others, but for us as well. Not easy to predict anything, also there are some loose ends to have our own perspective regarding the story puzzle. The overall impression is its a fine mystery-crime, but still I felt that I did not enjoy entirely due to the lack of originality. Other than that I'm sure it is worth a watch.6½/10

La isla mínima (known as Marshland to the Anglophones) at the surface resembles countless other crime films and stories. Two cops with very different personalities are summoned to an unfamiliar place in order to solve a crime and in the process they uncover dark secrets that lie under the small community. What makes the difference in this film however is how the filmmakers make use of the setting. The movie takes place in Spain during the Spanish transition to democracy some years after Franco's death.The two protagonists represent the different stances and political backgrounds. Pedro is an uptight cop with democratic convictions eager for the extinction of fascism in his country who is partnered with Juan an experienced cop who in this movie acts as a representative of Franco's regime. The two of them are called to investigation two missing girls in the Spanish countryside and to put aside their political differences.As a whodunit Marshland is a gripping and suspenseful movie with fine cinematography and the central mystery even though kinda formulaic preserves the viewer's interest till the finale. But at the relationship between the two leads and how this resonates with the political landscape of the 1980's Spain is where the central core of this story resides. For example Pedro, as the investigation progresses, comes at terms with the undemocratic and violent methods of Juan and makes compromises with his beliefs in order to solve a case which will allow him to advance his career.All in all I highly recommend Marshland if you want to watch an entertaining and intelligent mystery which scathingly comments on a turbulent period of the Spanish history.