Escobar: Paradise Lost

"Welcome to the family"

2014 2h 0m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 833

ThrillerRomance

Synopsis

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For Pablo Escobar family is everything. When young surfer Nick falls for Escobar's niece, Maria, he finds his life on the line when he's pulled into the dangerous world of the family business.

“Welcome to the family”

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Cast

Benicio del Toro
Pablo Escobar
Josh Hutcherson
Nick
Brady Corbet
Dylan
Claudia Traisac
Maria
Carlos Bardem
Drago
Ana Girardot
Anne
Tenoch Huerta Mejía
Roldano Brother
Laura Londoño
Maria Victoria

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Andrea Di Stefano
Writers: Andrea Di Stefano
Languages: Spanish, English
Countries: France, Spain, Belgium

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 22% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Spain, Belgium.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Andrea Di Stefano, shot by Luis David Sansans. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Max Richter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David Brenner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Benicio del Toro and Josh Hutcherson and Brady Corbet carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Andrea Di Stefano directs. Luis David Sansans behind the camera. Max Richter scores. David Brenner cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Spain, Belgium. Dialogue in Spanish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 22% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 12 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.
4International production across 3 countries: France, Spain, Belgium.
5Directed by Andrea Di Stefano, shot by Luis David Sansans. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Max Richter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor David Brenner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Benicio del Toro and Josh Hutcherson and Brady Corbet carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Welcome to the family".
10IMDB entry: tt2515030 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Luis David Sansans
Original score: Max Richter
Editing: David Brenner
Production design: Carlos Conti
Costume design: Marylin Fitoussi
Makeup / hair: Avril Carpentier
VFX supervisor: Thomas Duval
Sound: Frédéric Le Louêt
Stunt coordinator: Frédéric Vallet
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $17,000,000
Box office: $3,758,328
Return: 22% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014)

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Andrea Di Stefano

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb280390232022-08-30
★ 2/10
Benicio del Toro is a better Pablo Escobar than Javier Bardem, the same way Escobar: Paradise Lost is a better film about the drug lord than Loving Pablo – but the latter only marginally. Unlike Bardem, del Toro speaks Spanish throughout, except when addressing Nick Brady (Josh Hutcherson), which makes sense because Nick is Canadian. Moreover, most of the actors in Paradise Lost are Latino or Spanish, and their characters accordingly speak the language of Cervantes. The problem here is that the movie plays like a remake of the Last King of Scotland – and is just about as faithful to reality. Nick has gone surfing in Colombia, where he meets María (Claudia Traissac), and it's love at first sight. Little does Nick know that María is Escobar’s ‘almost-like-a-daughter-to-me’ niece. Yada yada yada the young, wide-eyed foreigner is seduced by the superficially affable and charismatic sociopath, only to discover sooner rather than later that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Now, del Toro can conjure affability, charisma, and sociopathy at the drop of hat, and he doesn't need to be in every scene to steal the movie; conversely, he couldn't save the film even if he did appear in every scene, because the story isn't about him, so Escobar doesn't so much inhabit the movie as he hovers over it, like a bird of prey. As for Nick and María, they are as make-believe as James McAvoy’s character in the Last King of Scotland. We don’t care what happens to them anymore than writer/director Andrea Di Stefano cares about what happens to Escobar, who literally and figuratively gets away with murder.

Production companies