A private detective agrees to investigate a case of vandalized cars in the neighborhood where he grew up, only to uncover a tangled web of old secrets, grudges, and crimes that everyone thought had long been buried.
THEMES: Crime – Corruption – Detective – Fraud – Investigation – Death – Business – Past – Revenge – Whodunit
GENRE: Drama – Crime – Thriller
PITCH: Félix Niemeyer is a private detective in Montevideo who survives through petty scams and minor cons, until an old childhood friend, Carlos “Cacho” Cornopio, unexpectedly walks into his office with a peculiar case. Someone has been splashing paint and vandalizing cars parked along Gutiérrez Street, directly in front of the workshop owned by Don Ramón, a feared and authoritarian mechanic from the neighborhood where Félix grew up. Reluctantly, and driven by financial necessity, Félix agrees to investigate.
What appears to be a simple assignment soon turns into a labyrinth. During his first night surveillance, Félix falls asleep inside his car, only to discover the next morning that several more vehicles have been vandalized. Humiliated by Don Ramón, who accuses him of incompetence, Félix changes tactics and begins watching the street from the rooftop of a nearby barbershop. The plan proves equally unsuccessful, as the attacks continue.
That same night, however, everything changes. When Félix goes to discuss a new strategy with Don Ramón, he finds the mechanic dead in his workshop, a knife lodged in his back.
Police officer Renzo Perdomo encourages Félix to continue investigating the vandalism, convinced that the incidents may be connected to the murder. At the funeral, Félix meets Miriam, Ramón’s widow. Through conversations with her and with several affected neighbors, a possible lead emerges: years earlier, Ramón, together with two other local residents, Julián and Julio, deliberately set fire to a building in an attempt to collect insurance money. The scheme ultimately failed, but someone may never have forgotten what happened.
Following this clue, Félix dives into the archives of the National Library. Assisted by Carla, a library employee, he discovers a photograph of the fire that links everything together. The image shows Ramón, Julián, and a mysterious man dressed in a tuxedo, weeping as the building burns. The photographer, Gustavo López Lobbosco, possesses additional unpublished photographs and allows Félix to examine them at his home, confirming crucial details of the event.
That night, Félix dreams of the man in the tuxedo, who wishes him “good luck, kid” before disappearing. Upon waking, Félix realizes he recognizes the man’s face.
On Sunday, he gathers everyone involved and reveals the truth. The person responsible for vandalizing the cars is Romerito, a young composer whose work was destroyed in the fire years earlier. As a symbolic act of revenge, he has been marking the vehicles of those he holds responsible. Félix proves it by producing the spray paint hidden inside Romerito’s thermos.
But Romerito is not the murderer.
Armed with evidence, Félix confronts Miriam and reveals that she killed Ramón in order to collect his life insurance policy and pay off mounting debts. His objective is not revenge or punishment, but simply to uncover the truth. Moments later, however, Officer Perdomo arrives to place Miriam under arrest.
As the case closes, Félix leaves behind the neighborhood of his childhood once again, carrying with him the realization that the past never truly disappears—it only waits to be uncovered.
RELEVANT INFORMATION: Rodolfo Santullo is a Uruguayan journalist, novelist, comic-book writer, and film and television screenwriter. His work has been published internationally in Argentina, Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Spain, Germany, and China.
The Last Goodbye is a slow-burning noir novel steeped in atmosphere, tension, and long-buried secrets. Its protagonist is an unconventional detective: vulnerable, financially precarious, and haunted by his past. Around him unfolds a rich gallery of eccentric and complex secondary characters who create the perfect setting for a neighborhood thriller infused with elements of cozy crime, dark humor, and melancholy. The result is a character-driven mystery that combines classic detective storytelling with an evocative portrait of memory, guilt, and community.
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series – Miniseries – Film – TV Movie
AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish.
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