2 stars of slow moving and confused horror storytelling.
On the 3rd Day is a 2021 Argentinian horror film written by Alberto Fasce and Gonzalo Ventura and directed by Daniel De La Vega (White Coffin, Necrophobia 3D). It is available to stream on Shudder from 7th July 2022 with an English dub.
“They tell me your former husband disappeared. Have you seen him?”
As the film opens we see Enrique (Gerardo Romano – El Marginal, The Silent Party) recieving a phone call from a religious type, we are waiting for you in Santa Cruz, bring the cargo. Th
e cargo is a heavily chained up large crate.
Cut to our heroine Cecelia (Mariana Anghileri – Red Point, Santa) and her young son Martin (Octavio Belmonte) preparing to head off on a road trip together. On the road, in the dark, Cecelia is distracted by a woman broken down at the roadside. Turning around to look at her she is, of course, not looking at the road and she swerves, causing Enrique to hit her car.
Three days later, she awakens in an abandonded building minus her top and her son (although at this point she doesn’t overly concerned at that fact). She staggers to a nearby home for help and soon finds herself in the local hospital under the care of Doctor Pastori (Lautaro Delgado – Kryptonite).
She is visisted by former husband Fernando (Diego Cremonesi – Rojo) demanding to know where his son is (we’re glad someone thought to ask this). She is also under investigation from police Inspector Ricardo Ventura (Osvaldo Santoro – Mobius) who wishes to know (as does everyone else) where she has been for the last three days.
To help in this endeavor, Pastori takes her to see a hypnotist, Noriega (Osmar Núñez – The Invisible Eye) to try and unlock her memories. What could possibly go wrong?
“Dream that this hell will be over soon, and when you wake up, it won’t be the same.”
On the 3rd Day is a strange film. Upon reading the synopsis my first thought was that it didn’t make sense, but that’s okay, because the film doesn’t either. I appreciate the attempt to do time skips to add to the tension, but it falls short.
The twist is obvious right from the start and the jumping around in the story just feels like an attempt to string us along for an hour before the big reveal. If you are looking for gore, there is quite a lot to be had here, 
but maybe because of the terrible English dub it is all a bit wasted, as the acting and script come across as being poor.
A film that feels like it should have been much better than it was, this is not one I will be bothering with again.
“You know what you have to do, so stop wasting time. Put your mission in the hands of God. Your soul as well.”
On the 3rd Day is available to stream on Shudder from 7th July 2022.
| Director | Daniel de la Vega |
| Genre | Horror |
| Starring | Mariana Anghileri, Gerardo Romano, Lautaro Delgado, Diego Cremonesi |