Claudio Carvalho The teachers Daniel (Juan Diego Botto) and Laura (Bárbara Lennie) work at the same school and live together. Laura wants to have a baby, but her gynecologist has just informed that she cannot have children. One day, a weird man named Mario (Marc Rodríguez) meets Daniel at school and asks him to visit his daughter Julia (Mágica Pérez) to help him but Daniel tells that he should go to the doctor to seek for help. A couple of days later, Mario commits suicide and Daniel sees on the front page of a newspaper. Laura tells to Daniel that they should go to the funeral and Daniel accepts her suggestion. When Laura sees Julia, she requests to be the temporary guardianship until a member of the family claims for her. Daniel is affected by the presence of Julia and calls her Clara. Soon a dark and creepy secret of Daniel and Mario's past haunt Daniel, affecting his relationship with Laura."Dictado" is a Spanish thriller with a promising idea, destroyed by a flawed screenplay that does not build tension and is more a drama than thriller or horror. Daniel has a serious childhood trauma and he is an educated man; so the logical attitude would be to decline the idea of going to Mario's funeral. Then, he should never accept to bring Julia home to keep his past far away. How Julia could know that Daniel is the Daniel of the monster of the stories told by her demented grandmother? Last but not the least, Bárbara Lennie and Juan Diego Botto do not show any chemistry. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Jogos Infantis" ("Infantile Games")

me-lasierra I liked Dictado! The story is very good (Sergi Belbel is one of the most talented writers/directors in Catalonia), the acting is too, specially Juan Diego Boto and the kid. I find it specially scary when the monster is a child, because they are capable of huge cruelty (in fiction?!) and pretend they are so innocent and harmless. I like how it dwells in the supernatural, and specially how it portrays the masculine fear to be robbed of their wife's love by a son/daughter. This is not a very common theme in cinema, maybe because it is not politically correct, but very realistic: father jealousy towards their own kids. How children are seen as strange intruders disrupting home harmony, transforming their mothers (wives) into obsessive, alienated monsters. The movie is well ploted, dialogs are crisp and realistic, and it got my attention from beginning to end. Good film.

ssonnenberg77 http://popgoesthereview.com/2012/08/30/childish-games-dictado/ Hey guys,this is my critic review of Childish Games. I really liked it, hope you will take time to read my review! In the review I talk about how sins of the past come back to haunt Daniel, the main actor played by Juan Diego Botto. The actors all did a superb job, and made this an atmospheric thriller that most will enjoy. However, I do not see it scaring everyone. I really enjoyed the acting of the young actors, and its all of theirs first IMDb credit and therefore, their first big screen debut. In particular I liked how great Magica Perez did in her on screen debut. I would love to see more films from Spain and the Spanish world. I am setting out right now to go get The Skin I Live In. Anyways the link will provide you with the full review I have of this movie :)

MoviesRT At first I wasn't sure about this movie. I have a problem with movies that require you to read the subtitles but this turned out to be a very good movie despite that.I honestly kept thinking this story was going in a different direction, so it really caught me by surprise once you figured out what was really happening.The flashbacks can get confusing sometimes, but it was very well woven into the storyline.I won't say anything more about the story. You really should go into this one knowing nothing about it.A very good psychological thriller all the way to the end.