Cinema Libre Studio has announced the U.S. theatrical run of the Mexican film Días de gracia / Days of Grace, the explosive directorial debut by Everardo Gout. Corruption, kidnapping, and vigilante justice fuel the film that opens Friday, May 1 at the AMC Empire 25 in New York City, and Friday, May 15 at the Sundance Sunset in Los Angeles.
Set in Mexico City during three consecutive World Cup tournaments, three lives impacted by abduction, intersect. Lupe, an idealistic cop, is tasked to investigate a crime ring and finds that justice has no value when a human life has a price. When Susana’s businessman-husband Arturo is taken, she must go outside the law to fight for his release. And Iguana is conflicted as he dreams of becoming a boxer even as he is drawn into a lifestyle that finds him guarding kidnap Victim X and facing down a criminal mastermind.
Based on his original screenplay, Gout’s directorial debut was an Official Selection of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, earning a fifteen minute standing ovation, then went on to win eight Mexican Academy of Film Ariel Awards® in 2012 as well as Best Film and Best Director prizes at the Guadalajara International Film Festival. Produced by Leopoldo Gout (Alex Cross) the film stars Tenoch Huerta (Güeros), who won an Ariel for Best Actor, Kristyan Ferrer (Sin Nombre, Buenos Días Ramón), Dolores Heredia (Get the Gringo, Vantage Point) and Carlos Bardem.
Gout, who spent a decade making commercials, video and other short form content crafted a gripping tale of three kidnappings, which occur during consecutive World Cup tournaments in 2002, 2006, and 2010, three distinct and carefully conceived timelines. This ambitious and dynamic first feature that tackles police and government corruption in Mexico City and the violent, harrowing ripple effects this has on seemingly unconnected individuals.
Gout created the singular looks (using three different aspect ratios) for each subplot with cinematographer Luis David Sansans, who developed his craft in the camera department on films such as: Y Tu Mamá También, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Romeo + Juliet, and Resident Evil: Extinction.
The soundtrack also denotes the different time frames by assigning three scores to each period. They are composed by Academy Award® winning composer Atticus Ross (The Social Network), as well as Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, and Shigeru Umebayashi, with a remix of George Gershwin’s iconic song, "Summertime " written by Robert Naja & Tim Goldsworthy, members of Massive Attack, performed by Scarlett Johansson.
The film was released theatrically in Mexico on 200 screens in April 2012. It has been released in France, United Kingdom, Hungary, and Sweden. Following a US theatrical run and will be broadcast on HBO in May 2015 and released day-and-date on DVD and select transactional On Demand platforms.
