Killing Castro [TIFF 2025]: Riskless mediocrity carried by a fascinating real story

3 min to read

A film based on a well-known real story, about Fidel Castro's visit to America in 1960 to speak at the United Nations. He is invited by Malcolm X (a famous black rights activist, but of a more militant type compared to MLK) to stay in Harlem, New York at Hotel Theresa. US is suspicious of the Cuban revolutionist's intentions so both FBI and CIA get involved (separately) in an assasination attempt.

Now, such a story is fascinating on its own without adding much to it, if it were a documentary, but it's not, it's an artistic film. And yet, director Eif Rivera did not take any risks whatsoever. The film is serviceable, but so surprisingly bland considering the subject matter that it is simply a dissapointment.

The script is mediocre but the cast, in general, is good. A highlight is Diego Boneta, who plays Fidel Castro. He is mesmerizing and is very convincing. The lead actor though, Xolo Mariduena, playing a young FBI agent who's in the middle of this mess, is underwhelming, and I'm not sure if it's his acting abilities or just bad directing (I suspect it's a bit of both). Considering how great Diego Boneta was in playing Castro, he should've been given much more screentime than the lead actor, whose dialogue may win the award in most platitudes spewed in a single film.

The dialogue in this film is so banal and lacklustre that I truly don't remember any memorable scene whatsoever. Hell, it even has Al Pacino in it, playing a CIA agent! Even the great actor himself couldn't save this film! He was good and added some gravitas as usual but his character was quite forgettable, just like most other characters. Malcolm X, played by Kendrick Sampson was an exception to the rule, just like Castro; he did a great job mimicking his cadence and mannerisms, yet still he barely had any memorable scenes. It's simply a missed opportunity by the director and the team of 3(!) script writers (Thomas DeGrezia, Leon Hendrix, Colin Bateman). They had two of the most iconic political characters of the 20th century and they made them bland. How? I have no idea, really.

Eif Rivera chose the safe route of a serviceable, riskless script with a mostly great casting that was simply wasted. Killing Castro may spark your curiosity about the real events, giving you a small taste of the Cold War tension, but as a film it's the definition of "not great, not terrible".

Rating: 6/10