Daniel Hendler Movies

A father-to-be belatedly becomes aware of the apocalypse taking place around him in this darkly comic thriller from Argentina. Coco (Daniel Hendler) and Pipi (Jazmín Stuart) are a twentysomething couple who live in a high-rise apartment complex where they don't have much contact with their neighbors. Even if they did, with Pipi seven months pregnant, they're preoccupied with the upcoming arrival of their first child, and barely notice when the building is sealed off as part of a state-ordered quarantine that seeks to prevent the spread of a flu-like disease spreading through Europe. While Coco and Pipi quietly settle in to wait out the quarantine, Coco learns that not all of the other tenants believe what they've been told, and he's soon caught up in their paranoia as survival and holding on to one's provisions become the order of the day and the outside world descends into madness. Directed by Nicolas Goldbart, Fase 7 (aka Phase 7) received its North American premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A loser with a successful friend discovers his luck might change as long as he doesn't mind betraying his buddy in this edgy comedy from Argentina. Luciano (Daniel Hendler) is a neurotic and accident-prone children's entertainer who is struggling to launch a career as a screenwriter when he's not fretting about his health. After Luciano accidentally puts his performing partner, Sherman (Martin Feldman), in the hospital, he's unable to do shows for a few weeks and is wondering what to do when his old friend Manuel (Walter Jakob) returns to Buenos Aires for a visit. Manuel is the star of a popular television show in Spain, and he's dating a beautiful woman, Sophia (Jazmin Stuart), who comes along for the ride. Manuel helps Luciano land a writing assignment, but it's uncomfortably obvious he's only helping his pal out of a sense of obligation and doesn't believe in his talent. As Luciano struggles to meet his deadline, Manuel is called away on business for a few days, and Sophia, a stranger in town, spends some time with Luciano while her boyfriend is away. Sophia finds Luciano's eccentricities endearing rather than annoying, and he soon realizes he has the opportunity to steal his friend's lover away. Los Paranoicos (aka The Paranoids) was an official entry at the 2008 Buenos Aires Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Daniel Burman's "Fatherhood Trilogy" draws to a close with this follow-up to Lost Embrace detailing the efforts of a devoted lawyer and teacher to live up to the lofty standards set by his hard working father. Ariel Perelman, Jr. (Daniel Hendler) is a teacher whose widowed father Ariel Perelman, Sr. (Arturo Goetz) maintains a strict daily regimen even in his old age. When Perelman, Jr. marries one of his students following a brief courtship and the couple fast begins forming a family, his wife's departure for a Pilates retreat leaves Perleman, Jr. faced with the daunting prospect of caring for his sixty-five year old father and doing his best to live up the elder Perelman's expectations. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Directors Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll co-helm the contemporary black comedy Whisky, set in Montevideo, Uruguay. An exercise in straight-faced humor laced with absurdly funny -- yet instantly recognizable -- characters and situations, Whisky travels into the world of Jacobo (Andres Pazos), the owner and proprietor of a sock factory. Trapped in a prison of day-to-day loneliness, Jacobo finds his world turned onto its ear when his freewheeling, toothy-grinned (and infinitely more successful) brother Herman (Jorge Bolani) comes for a visit. Determined to cloak the extent of his misery, Jacobo recruits his assistant at the sock factory, Marta (Mirella Pascual), to pretend to be his wife. Screened in the United States by the Global Film Initiative, as part of its Global Lens Film Series, Whisky earned rave reviews from the BBC, The New York Times, Variety, and many other esteemed publications. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In this edgy psychological thriller from Argentina, Ezequiel (Daniel Hendler) is a handsome but deeply neurotic man in his mid-20s who is studying architecture. Ezequiel is dating Anna (Dolores Fonzi), and one evening, pops by her apartment unannounced to discover a middle-aged man he's never seen before (Gustavo Garzon) is hiding under her bed. Imagining the worst, Ezequiel obsessively follows the stranger for the rest of the night, eventually setting fire to his car and threatening his life. However, there are a variety of explanations for what has happened, and Ezequiel finds that none of them are quite what he expected. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Distraught over the unexpected suicide of his flight-attendant wife, portly dentist Julian (Alfredo Casero) makes the decision to travel to the Falkland Islands in a despondent bid to end his own life by freezing to death. It seems that fate has other things in store for Julian however, when suicidal air-hostess Teresa (Ingrid Rubio) appears at the same place and the same time revealing similar intentions. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Six people find themselves playing a romantic/sexual game of musical chairs in this quirky comedy-drama. Martin (Daniel Hendler) and Natalia (Mariana Anghileri) are a twentysomething couple who are in mid-argument when Martin accidentally runs into another car. As it happens, the other car was being driven by popular actor Gaston Pauls (playing himself); Gaston and his girlfriend, Andrea (Eva Sola), were en route to an interview with journalist Camila (Camila Toker). Martin tries to sort things out with Gaston, but after Andrea decides she's tired of listening to them, she takes off, and before long Gaston does the same to make his appointment with Camila. Camila, however, is looking for more than a story; she's grown disenchanted with her boyfriend, Leopoldo (Leonardo Murua), and is thinking that a fling with a good-looking movie star might be just what she needs. Meanwhile, Martin still hasn't settled the matter concerning the accident, and Leopoldo happens to make the acquaintance of Natalia. Sabado was written and directed by Juan Villegas. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi