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Crime Wave (2018)

Name: Crime Wave
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Released: 2018-10-04
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 5.8
Cast: Maribel Verdú, Antonio Resines, Luis Tosar, Juana Acosta, Paula Echevarría

Crime Wave (2018), directed by Gracia Querejeta, starring Maribel Verdú and Antonio Resines.

10/04/2018 BR Comedy and Crime 1h 38m

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Synopsis

Leyre lives a quiet and comfortable life which ends abruptly when an act of rage of her teenage son leads her to protect him by any means necessary.

Ángel AmorósCinematography
Gracia QuerejetaDirector
Leire AlonsoEditing
Álvaro AugustínProducer

About the film

Crime Wave (Spanish: Ola de crímenes) is a 2018 Spanish black comedy film directed by Gracia Querejeta. The cast, led by Maribel Verdú, also features Juana Acosta, Paula Echevarría, Antonio Resines, Raúl Arévalo, Luis Tosar and Javier Cámara.

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Plot

Set in Biscay, the plot follows the mishaps of Leyre, a well-off and happily divorced woman whose son has killed his father in a fit of rage, doing whatever it takes for the crime to remain unsolved, henceforth unleashing a wave of crimes across Bilbao and its surroundings.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was penned by Luis Marías. The film is a Telecinco Cinema, Bowfinger International Pictures, Historias del Tío Luis and Crimen Zinema A.I.E. production and it had the participation of Mediaset España and Movistar+. It was shot in 2017 in locations of Biscay, including Getxo, Bilbao and Portugalete, as well as in Madrid.

Luis Marías, Ghislain Barrois, Álvaro Augustin, María Luisa Gutiérrez, Santiago Segura and Eduardo Carneros were credited as producers.

Release

Distributed by Universal Pictures International Spain, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 5 October 2018.

Reception

Reviewing for El Periódico de Catalunya, Beatriz Martínez rated the film with 2 out of 5 stars, lamenting the tone and the overly histrionic performances, considering that, despite welcoming the attempt to turn male archetypes into female ones, the result is uneven and nears a "retrograde" discourse.

Sergio F. Pinilla of Cinemanía gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, considering that Verdú does it well enough to sustain the film by herself, concluding that it was "silly, yes, but attractive".

Jordi Batlle Caminal of Fotogramas scored 3 out of 5 stars, highlighting the "perfectly matched" cast, while deeming the Querejeta's "stingy" mise-en-scène as the worst feature of the film.

Javier Ocaña of El País deemed Crime Wave to be a "deficient" film, configured as a madcap black comedy, yet rarely finding the right tone.

Luis Martínez of Metrópoli gave it 3 out of 5 stars, considering Crime Wave a film "as liberating as absolutely free. Feverish and suicidal. All at the same time", where "it is obligatory to surrender to Verdú's ability to be herself in many more ways than imaginable".

References

External links

Crime Wave at IMDb

Crime Wave at ICAA's Catálogo de Cinespañol

Text from Crime Wave (2018 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_Wave_(2018_film)

Trivia

It premiered on October 4, 2018, a Thursday.
It runs 1h38 — a typical feature length.
Its original title is "Ola de crímenes".
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Diamond Films Amazon Channel.
This film's quiz has 12 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosBowfinger, Historias del Tío Luis, Crimen Zinema, Mediaset España, Movistar Plus, Mogambo Films, Telecinco Cinema
CountriesSpain
LanguagesSpanish
StatusReleased

Where to watch

Diamond Films Amazon Channel Streaming

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Cast

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Crew

Ángel Amorós Cinematography
Gracia Querejeta Director
Leire Alonso Editing
Álvaro Augustín Producer
Eduardo Carneros Producer
Ghislain Barrois Producer
Jorge Tuca Producer
Luis Marías Producer
María Luisa Gutiérrez Producer
Federico Jusid Original music
Luis Marías Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Crime Wave about?

Crime Wave: Leyre lives a quiet and comfortable life which ends abruptly when an act of rage of her teenage son leads her to protect him by any means necessary.

Who directed Crime Wave?

Crime Wave was directed by Gracia Querejeta in 2018.

Who stars in Crime Wave?

The cast of Crime Wave includes Maribel Verdú, Antonio Resines, Luis Tosar, Juana Acosta and Paula Echevarría.

How long is Crime Wave?

Crime Wave runs for 98 minutes, or 1h38.

Where can I watch Crime Wave?

Crime Wave is available on Diamond Films Amazon Channel. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.