Dhruv Sharma
In my review of Netflix’s ‘The Legacy of the Bones’, the second installment of the Baztan Trilogy, I mention how I was a bit disappointed by the film’s formulaic mystery drama, but I appreciated it for its mythological allegories, captivating visuals, and well-written characters.
The third and final installment of the series, titled ‘Offering to the Storm,’ has finally landed on Netflix. It again captures you with its references to the intriguing lore of the Baztan Valley and even the striking visuals of the location’s fortresses and rivers. However, it fails to rise above its two mediocre prequels. More so, it also lacks the atmospheric build-up that made ‘The Legacy of the Bones’ a little better than most quintessential noir films; thereby giving the Baztan Trilogy a very unsatisfying conclusion.
Offering to the Storm Plot
In the final moments of ‘The Legacy of the Bones,’ Amaia Salazar had managed to save her daughter from her mother. Moments after this, her mother’s jacket was found in the river, and most people assumed that she died. ‘Offering to the Storm’ picks up the story from here and shows how Amaia still doesn’t believe that her mother is dead. In the meantime, a still-born baby girl is murdered in Pamplona, and her father gets arrested.
Upon further investigating the case by interviewing the family of the suspect, Amaia learns that the father was muttering something about an offering when he ran away with the body of the baby. She also learns that the baby had a red mark on her face, which suggests that the father choked her with a teddy bear. One of the family members of the man also reveals something about Inguma, a mythological creature that kills people in their sleep. She claims that the father was somehow recreating Inzuma’s ritual by killing his daughter in her sleep. With all these clues, Amaia starts realizing that this new case is very similar to the child sacrifices that had earlier gripped the Baztan Valley. While Amaia learns more about the origins of these child sacrifices, the Baztan murderer, Dr. Berasategui, is found dead in his prison cell.
Offering to the Storm Review
The first two installments of the Bastan Trilogy were standalone films with their only connective thread being the main characters. ‘Offering to the Storm’ drifts away from the norm and draws several parallels with its predecessors. I, personally, see this as a significant drawback for the film since ‘Offering to the Storm’ adds little to no progression to the overarching premise of the series. Throughout its runtime, it simply keeps repeating the events that took place in the previous movie. This redundant narrative neither brings any new information to the ones who have watched ‘The Legacy of the Bones’ nor does it give enough context and background to those who haven’t. After introducing a gripping primary conflict in its opening moments, it merely drags its premise and only waits until its climactic moments to add something new.
‘Offering to the Storm’ is very different from the other two offerings of the trilogy. Its underlying mysteries are barely consequential, its ending is abrupt, and most of all, it loses focus on the plot. I do appreciate that despite being the third installment of the series, the movie does not shy away from further developing its characters. However, the main issues here are the evident flaws in these developments. Amaia was previously a loving motherly figure who would do anything to keep her daughter safe. Her love for her daughter was primarily an outcome for her own troubled childhood with her abusive mother. But ‘Offering to the Storm’ completely disregards this aspect of Amaia’s personality, and almost none of her actions come in tandem with how she used to be.
‘The Legacy of the Bones’ perfectly weaved its supernatural elements with its overarching crime drama. It’s this aspect of the movie that made it a little different, and in some ways, better than most generic crime fiction films out there. Unfortunately, ‘Offering to the Storm’ almost entirely eradicates these supernatural elements and just focuses on an inconsequential murder mystery. Ultimately, ‘The Legacy of the Bones’ still stands to be the best offering of an otherwise forgettable movie series, while ‘Offering to the Storm’ only resolves some unanswered questions of its predecessors.
Rating: 2/5
Read More: Offering to the Storm Filming Locations
