Pedro Suárez: You'd rather extort money from hookers and bars.
Marshland (Spanish: La isla mínima) is a 2014 Spanish crime thriller directed by Alberto Rodríguez and starring Javier Gutiérrez and Raúl Arévalo.
Set in 1980s Spain following the end of the harsh dictatorship of The Franco Regime, Madrid detectives Pedro Suárez and Juan Robles are dispatched to an isolated community in the Guadalquivir Marshes to investigate a recent string of disappearances of teenage girls. As the two navigate the choppy waters of local politics and community gossip, the case transforms from mere disappeared girls to a hunt for a brutal Serial Killer, and the volatile Pedro and Juan are forced to find a way to work together well enough to take down a monster before more innocents fall victim.
The film is often compared in tone and content to the acclaimed first season of True Detective, sharing the themes of a pair of vitriolic cops forced to work through a "deep south" setting to find a heinous killer, and much like that first season, Marshland received critical acclaim upon its release, obtaining many accolades not least of which was its impressive sweep of the 29th Goya Awards.
Marshland contains examples of the following tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: It's never fully clarified what hand, if any, Corrales had in the serial killings. He, at the very least, is indicated to have taken part in Quini's illicit photography sessions of underage girls, and raped at least one himself, but whether Corrales knew of Quini's murderous inclinations with Sebastian is left unknown.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: The "serial killer" turns out to be a duo of sexual sadists working together to satisfy their deviant depravity.
- Bittersweet Ending: The serial killers are brought to justice and Juan and Pedro seem to be on decent terms, but Pedro has discovered Juan's past as a fanatic devotee of the Franco regime and Juan point blank lies to Pedro's face about it. Any choice of the two detectives having a meaningful friendship has basically been dashed.
- The Casanova: Quini is a charming lad who regularly seduces girls around town, even if they are way too young for him. His natural charisma is what helps him turn his lovers into prey.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The murderer uses knives, pliers, and lit cigarettes among other implements to torture his victims while they are fully conscious.
- Cowboy Cop: Both Pedro and Juan use brutality and illicit methods to get their job done, with Juan in particular being a violent ball of rage who is eager to punch first and ask questions later. It's foreshadowing of the reveal that Juan has a history of being a vile interrogator.
- Dirty Cop: Juan is indicated to have more than once used his position in authority to shake down criminals in exchange for turning a blind eye.
- Fingore: Several of the murder victims had their fingers chopped or burned off by the killer before their death.
- Immoral Journalist: The El Caso journalist that communicates with Pedro is a slimy dirty dealer, who swaps information to the police in exchange for the most gruesome, heartstring-tugging photos and reports.
- Karma Houdini: While Quini is arrested and Sebastián Rovira Galvez is killed, their partner Corrales who—at the very least—is guilty of pornography involving a minor and rape never receives proper justice for his crimes.
- The Reveal: Two of them!
- Quini is the serial rapist and killer, alongside Sebastian. They used political connections with Alfonso Corrales to better cover up their heinous crimes.
- Juan was a ruthless torturer and killer for the Franco regime who is using his status as a cop to avoid discovery.
- Roguish Poacher: Jesús illegally hunts deer in the marshes to earn cash, but he proves himself to be a lovable, helpful ally to the detectives in taking on the killer.
- Serial Killer: The detectives quickly realize they are dealing with one when the ravaged bodies of the disappeared girls start turning up. What they don't initially realize is that they're dealing with a duo of killers.
- Serial Rapist: All of the victims of the serial killer are first brutally tortured and raped before their lives are snuffed out.
- Would Hurt a Child: Most of the murder victims are teenaged girls.
