Abhiroop Das
Directed by Roger Gual, ‘The Truthers,’ or ‘Los Creyentes,’ tells the story of Ruth and her father, Martin, who come to have a polar opposite reaction to the death of Ruth’s mother, Lucia. Though the official reports indicate that Lucia died due to an accident, Ruth soon captures fragments of what appears to be an elaborate mystery, one that defies logic and often turns towards the conspiratorial. At the same time, however, the Spanish psychological drama film also presents a parallel thread, that of the disappearance of a little boy named Alejandro Huelva. As the entire town mobilizes to search for him, Ruth conducts an investigation of her own, and at the center of it is her father and the secrets he is so intent on hiding. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Alejandro Passes Away After Mysteriously Falling Into the Town’s Central Lake
Towards the end of ‘The Truthers,’ Ruth finds out through the news that Alejandro died after falling into the town’s central lake. This subverts the ruling assumption that he has been kidnapped, and while we are never told about the exact circumstances behind Alejandro’s demise, it does seem to be an accident. Ruth is only able to make the connection after she recognizes the boy’s bicycle to be the same as the one she caught a glimpse of in the lake’s muddy waters. After the body is discovered along with the bicycle, the most likely explanation becomes that Alejandro was cycling around the lake when he accidentally fell into it and drowned, unable to call for help or receive it on time. However, some discrepancies immediately emerge with this line of thought.
To begin with, it doesn’t make sense for Alejandro to simply fall into the pool without drawing any attention, as the lake is, after all, a town hotspot. Given that he was most likely cycling when the sun was still up, someone could have seen or heard him struggling and helped. However, when we actually see the whole lakefront through Ruth’s eyes, it is clearly surrounded by a thick cover of trees and bushes, which can easily obscure visibility and sound. Furthermore, the accumulated pollution in the lake suggests that the townsfolk have started visiting it less, possibly because of the toxins poured into it by the nearby Certyx building. As such, no one likely even suspects that Alejandro fell into the lake, which is how the tragedy goes unnoticed.
Alejandro’s Fate is Deeply Connected to the Chain of Conspiracies
One morbid detail that makes the case even more confusing is the fact that Alejandro’s body remains submerged under water, days after his fall. Often, death by drowning is depicted in storytelling by the visual of a floating corpse, but in this case, Alejandro is never discovered in that state, suggesting that something must have been keeping his body in position. Though we never get a confirmed answer on that regard, chances are that it’s the bicycle itself that acts as a counterweight, suggesting that Alejandro died clutching onto it, possibly due to a blunt force injury, and not just because he drowned. The other, more chilling possibility, however, is that Alejandro was murdered prior to this, in a different location, and his body was then dumped into the lake alongside the bicycle.
The final minutes of the film do not mention any foul play, suspected or otherwise, lowering the chances of Alejandro being murdered. Where this distinction becomes particularly relevant, though, is in how it engages with the central theme of the narrative, that of conspiracy. Martin is driven by the belief that Alejandro has been kidnapped by Certyx, and that drives him to the point of walking towards his own death. Martin’s response to all of this, however, can be interpreted as a desperate attempt to make sense of a reality that has started to increasingly escape him. We see this manifest in Ruth as well, as she becomes obsessed with the events that led to her mother’s death, creating meaning where there are only disparate threads. The tragedy of Alejandro’s death only highlights how cruel fate can be, and how differently people react and respond to it.
Read More: The Truthers: Is Certyx Based on a Real Pharmaceutical Company?
