Set in the waning days of World War II, Sordo tells the story of Anselmo Rojas (Asier Etxeandia), a fugitive Spanish revolutionary. He is forced to go on the run in northern Spain after a failed sabotage attempt against the Francoist military dictatorship leaves him deaf. Taking clear inspiration from Sergio Leone westerns, writer-director Alfonso Cortes-Cavanillas attempts to dazzle us with some nifty gunslinging sequences and panoramic set locations in the film’s early stages, but by the second act the narrative collapses into absurdity. Anselmo is provided with ample opportunities to either escape or kill his pursuers, the majority of whom appear utterly inept in the basic use of strategy, but instead lingers around on the outskirts of town with no apparent mission. The novel plot development of Anselmo’s deafness adds a degree of tension to the proceedings, but ultimately the narrative is dragged down by its poor pacing and undeveloped characters—Darya Volkov (Olimpia Melinte), a one-eyed Soviet mercenary sniper, plays a stock “bad gal” antagonist to Anselmo as she torments and, in one particularly disturbing scene, sexually assaults the local populace. In the end, Sordo leaves little to recommend besides over-glossy action sequences and picturesque Spanish countryside views.