Nine Queens

Hailed by critics as Latin America’s answer to Mamet, writer-director Bielinsky’s feature début is a hugely enjoyable thriller loaded with small-time swindlers and big-time double crosses. Experienced con man Marcos (Darin) takes the younger Juan (Pauls) under his wing, training him in the fine art of the street scam. When the pair are recruited for a big-time scheme involving a set of rare postage stamps their future seems assured. With a sparkling script, excellent performances, and restrained yet omnipresent tension, NINE QUEENS has proved to be both a critical and audience success from its native Argentina to the U.S. ‘The kind of film that seduces you into becoming putty in its manipulative card-sharking hands.’ The New York Times