The Method (2005)

Based on a famous play about different interview jobs. In his new film Piñeyro explores the dark inner workings of the corporate world. While the streets of Madrid are filled with anti-globalization demonstrators, candidates are assembled to be put through the final selection process for a single high-level position at a multinational corporation. From the outset, there is a palpably tense, competitive atmosphere among the group. Feelings of distrust increase when they realize they are aspiring for the same position, and that the Grönholm Method (a human resources strategy supposedly imported from the U.S.) is being used to assess their respective merits. They find themselves pitted against one another in a contest that elicits fear, suspicion, paranoia, and betrayal. The humiliation these people are willing to endure or inflict on others for the sake of the job is chilling to witness. Piñeyro works with an incredible ensemble cast of actors: Young, attractive executives Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Nieves (Najwa Nimri) are cold, calculating and unscrupulous. Fernando (Eduard Fernández) and Ana (Adriana Ozores) represent the older generation, insecure about their age and lack of cutting-edge skills. Enrique (Ernesto Alterio), meanwhile, is the typical kiss-ass, continually praising the human resources department’s cryptic techniques…. Piñeyro’s timely film shows how this type of “natural” selection truly dehumanizes us in the ceaseless race to get ahead.