: Parallel to the investigation, Chaparro grapples with his decades-long hidden passion for Irene Hornos, a judge and former colleague.
As he reconstructs the investigation, the narrative jumps between 1999 and the mid-1970s. Benjamín's obsession with the case is mirrored by his long-suppressed feelings for his former superior, , a woman from a higher social class with whom he shared an unspoken connection. 2. Themes and Symbolism
It is a narrative sleight of hand. By removing Ricardo from the active investigation, Campanella hides the film's most terrifying truth in plain sight.
The act of writing the novel is Benjamín’s attempt to "exorcise" memories and find closure for a life he feels has been empty.
The novel follows Benjamín Chaparro, a retired deputy clerk in the Buenos Aires investigative court, who decides to write a manuscript about a brutal crime that has haunted him for 30 years.
For the first two acts, the audience is led to believe that Benjamén’s former boss and love interest, Irene, represents the film's central theme of "passion." She is the one who got away; she is the obsession that Benjamín cannot file away.