Extirpator of Idolatries () is a 2014 Peruvian thriller drama film written and directed by Manuel Siles, completed in 2014 and released commercially in Peru in 2016.
The police detective Waldo, of circumspect disposition and temper, investigates several crimes associated with indigenous rituals that occur in some regions of the Peruvian Andes. There a boy and a girl who are about to enter puberty begin to interact with certain mythical beings, a supernatural belief very common in many Andean villages. A sinister character (the âÂÂExtirpator of IdolatriesâÂÂ), pretending to be on a mission of faith, but imbued with religious dogmatism and intolerance, interrupts this peaceful scene as he casts an ominous shadow over these ancient Peruvian beliefs. Although WaldoâÂÂs boss considers him inferior and distrusts his methods, the policeman continues his efforts to capture the âÂÂExtirpator of IdolatriesâÂÂ. At the same time, Waldo will resolve his own inner conflict which has troubled him all his life.
Extirpador of idolatries had a positive reception from audiences and critics at international film festivals, winning thirty two awards, and obtaining nine nominations. Peruvian critics praised the film after its premiere in Lima, film critic Sebastián Pimentel of the newspaper El Comercio calls it "a new title among the best of Peruvian cinema in recent years." He praises the work of the leading actor ("great Oswaldo Salas") and the director ("Siles has assimilated well a modern film tradition that goes beyond Europe - come to mind 'Antonio das Mortes' of the Brazilian Glauber Rocha, even the most contemporary films by Claudia Llosa, through the cinema of the Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul - As in the cases cited, far from verbalizing facts, Siles explores affections, beliefs, imaginaries, the latter taking the form of dreams or hallucinations that challenge the realism of what we see "). He considers it one of the 20 best commercial premieres in Peru in 2016, being one of only three Peruvian films included in the list. In the newspaper La República, the film critic Federico de Cárdenas qualifies it with 4 stars out of 5, describing it as "valuable opera prima", praises photography ("remarkable photography and camera of Marco Antonio Alvarado") and Magaly Solier's performance. Film critic Ricardo Bedoya considers it "one of the most suggestive Peruvian films of recent times".