Togo is a Netflix movie starring Diego Alonso in the titular role. It also stars Catalina Arrilaga, Nestor Prieto, Luis Alberto Acosta, Sabrina Valiente, Federico Morosino, and Jose Pagano. Israel Adrián Caetano is the writer and director of the movie. The runtime is of 120 minutes. The movie is in Spanish, is dubbed in English, and has English subtitles.
The synopsis reads, “A man who looks after cars parked on his turf must protect his livelihood when traffickers attempt to make him and his pals sell drugs on the streets.”
Togo Movie Review Contains No Spoilers
In Israel Adrián Caetano’s Netflix movie, we meet Togo, a middle-aged man working on the streets as a car attendant – helping people park cars and directions. One day, a teenage girl insists on working with him on the streets. The girl belongs to a well-to-do family, is on depression medication and doesn’t get along with her parents. Togo isn’t aware of her family background.
Togo also has a daughter who lives in a rehabilitation centre. He often visits her every week. One day, a few drug peddlers try to make a deal with him. They want him to let them do their drug business on his block. They make a profitable offer which he refuses. The men threaten Togo and one of his friends who works in the other block.
We have seen many movies based on the drug business. There are shows about druglords, infamous cartels or people cooking meth and selling them off. In his movie, director Caetano shows the other side of the illegal business.
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He has shown how people who work on the streets are harassed or forced to get involved in such illegal businesses. However, there is hardly anything that makes the plot interesting to watch. The synopsis mention how he wants to protect his neighbourhood. But the drug dealers come and go and are often lost in the background. They’re forced in the story and appear as a weak threat.
Many random things happen in the story that make no sense in the end. We are shown how Togo lives on the street while his daughter is in rehab. He doesn’t want his daughter to live with him but helps an unknown teenage girl by giving her the job.
Neither the father-daughter equation nor the girl add anything substantial to the plot. Even the drug dealers come out of nowhere and are dealt with in the end with hardly any build-up.
The movie would’ve worked better as a short film highlighting the challenges such car attendants face. It would have been better if the director focused only on the traffickers.
Togo Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, Netflix describes the movie as gritty, but it’s not even close. Even though Diego Alonso has performed well, it doesn’t help to make the story interesting. The movie, based on street business and the problems of traffickers, has no direction and fails to hold your attention.
The movie is now streaming on Netflix.
Are you planning to watch the movie? Do let us know the same in the comments section below.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the acting.
Even though the plot was confusing it did not diminish my appreciation and my recommendation to others.
I watched it in Spanish with english sub titles. I do not speak Spanish.
I’m watching it right now and so far liked it. It’s an offbeat plot and I like such stories. The above analysis / review is very harsh and I’d give it a decent 5 odd of 10. It’s a slow burn but watchable.
Don’t trust a reviewer who watches the dubbed version.