Unknown Origins is an amusing collision of the serial killer movie Seven and <pick your comic book origin story here>. It’s about a straight-laced detective in Madrid, Spain who is on the trail of a serial killer who uses superhero origin stories as the basis for his murders. With the help of a his cosplaying Chief of Homicide and a civilian nerdy comic book store owner/subject matter expert, they try to track down this horrendous murderer.

To say the movie is inspired by Seven is blatant and intentional. Not only does it share a similar visual style/color palette, it shares its very gruesome “after the killing” depictions of the homicides. But that’s ok since the movie knows its inspirations and wears them like a superhero costume. Because it also wears its superhero costumes like superhero costumes… the screenwriters knew their golden and silver age hero facts as well as modern superhero cinema. If you are a fan of these genres, you’ll probably enjoy the movie, at least on a surface level.

Unfortunately, the longer the movie goes, the more these superhero and comic book references start to feel a little too much like pandering. They try too hard for far too long and spend so much time complimenting your nerdy obsessions that they risk breaking their arm patting themselves on the back for their cleverness. And, by the point this feeling creeps in in the final act, the movie’s structure and pacing crashes. The end of this movie is just one long drawn-out drag of a message and setup. You get the point well before the movie gets itself to the point.

So I respect the attempt but ultimately not the execution. The smash-up of serial killer cop drama and nerdy comic book stories is kind of clever and makes fun connections, but I think the film took it in the wrong direction and lost the plot. But if you are a fan of nerd culture, it might be worth watching to see if you are suckered into the gimmick. You might have fun where I did not.

Score: 73