Paul told the Guardian this week that Breaking Bad “changed my life”. However, where it excels is in giving the character of Jesse some closure. That El Camino is a Netflix production – set to be released on the streaming giant today with only a smattering of cinema screenings (and none in the UK) – might explain this construction. It is too compact and fragmented to truly stand on its own, and viewers who have not seen the preceding 62 hours of Breaking Bad will likely struggle to enjoy it. But while it has both style and content, El Camino feels more like a feature-length TV episode than an actual movie. His penchant for bravura cinematography is on display once again, with one time-lapse sequence featuring eight Jesses creeping around a house proving a standout moment. ![]() Gilligan – who reprises his own role as writer and director – has always been good at keeping his audience on their toes. The film follows an interesting structure, and one that contradicts the impression given by some of the pre-release marketing. Most of the cameos should come as a surprise, but it doesn’t feel like spoiling things too much to note that there is a standout turn from Jesse Plemons as Todd, a child-like sociopath who plays good captor to Jesse during his time in the cage. El Camino cuts continuously between the 48 hours that follow Jesse’s escape, and a number of flashbacks, some from his time in captivity and some from earlier than that. The answer is several, including big hitters, even though most of them are dead. There has been much speculation among Breaking Bad enthusiasts – of which there are many – over which characters from the original show would return here. Rather it’s about someone who is trapped – not just in New Mexico, but in his head, bound by the trauma he has just experienced and the memories that help him, finally, to work out where to go next. El Camino (Spanish for “road” or “way”) is not the story of a man skipping town. The title of this ‘Breaking Bad movie’, then, is something of a misdirection. ![]() Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in Breaking Bad.
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