A Sweet Scent of Death

This is a slick and pacy, but - in both senses of the word - terribly Americanised thriller. The murder of a teenage nymphet in a Mexican village leads to widespread paranoia, machismo, cover-up and the threat of imprisonment of execution for the innocent teenager who fancied her. It's a tale of sex, violence, corruption and clichés, complete with bluesy guitar track, backlit lighting, hammy acting and a not very interesting denouement. But Alterio is dependable as ever as the ambiguous, ageing sheriff, and it all passes by innocuously and amiably enough.