A scene from "7 Boxes"
In the densely crowded labyrinth of market stalls in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, seventeen year-old Victor agrees to deliver seven boxes of something in order to get cash for a cellphone. We suspect the something is something important because no sooner is Victor wheeling his cargo through the lush nocturnal urban underclass maze than he's being chased by all manner of badass predator. While the setting is nothing short of arresting, and the camerawork – mostly speeding wheelbarrow p.o.v. – thrilling, there's no escaping the largely rote Hollywood-genre calling card nature of Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori's first movie, which evokes an extra-amped but strategically lo-tech collision of Run Lola Run, Slumdog Millionaire, City of God and Premium Rush. A fun but fleeting art-house snack.
Sept. 15, 1:00 p.m., Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 6