By Bel Hernandez
Actor, writer and producer Manny Perez is back with the sequel to his 2009 independent film La Soga. This time around he adds director to his long list of credits in La Soga: Salvation.
Perez has built his reputation working on films about Latinos and the neighborhood they grew up in. Back in 2002 he played the lead in one of the most critically acclaimed independent films of that year, Washington Heights which was directed by Alfredo Rodriguez de Villa. Perez is also credited as one of the writers of the story. This film went on to win several film festival awards, including a Special Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival. It gave audiences the first look at the mostly Latino neighborhood of Washington Heights in Manhattan that to date is still playing a prominent role in films, the latest being Lin Manuel Miranda's In the Heights.
In La Soga: Salvation Perez plays a retired hitman who is still sought out for his deadly skills. Luisito (Perez) has settled down and found true love with his girlfriend Lía (Sarah Jorge Leon). But his past comes calling and he finds himself forced out of retirement, forced to do someone else's dirty work.
(L-R) Sarah Jorge Leon, the girlfriend. Hada Vanessa, the villain (Photo: Talent Self)
When criminal contractor Jimmy Mac finds himself in need of a skilled hitman to take out a powerful Dominican drug lord, he can think of no better man for the job than La Soga. Lía is now kidnapped, leaving Luisito with no other choice than to re-enter the criminal underworld and take on a crew of dangerous killers, including a particularly mysterious assassin, Dani (Hada Vanessa), who has long awaited the chance to even the score with her rival, La Soga.
"As an actor, I am so sick and tired of seeing what Hollywood does to a Latino lead," Perez passionately expressed in his interview with Latin Heat. "This man [Luisito] is a regular guy trying to get by and I feel that is what people connect to this character." That is why, Perez explained, he pushes himself to writes stories with three-dimensional characters unlike the stories Hollywood puts out. "As an actor I am always pushing myself to the next level [even] if I have to write so that Hollywood can take notice of me."
Perez is already working on the production of the final and last La Soga film in the trilogy. It will take Lusito back to the Dominican Republic where he will continue his fight with the corrupt government. "In part three it ends its whole cycle," he says. "He [La Soga] goes back to the Dominican Republic. He is trying to find justice in this crazy corrupt world."
In the independent world of cinema, it is hard enough to produce one film, let alone a trilogy, but Perez has something to prove and he will be seeing this trilogy production to the end.
Cast: Manny Perez, Hada Vanessa, Juan Fernandez, Sarah Jorge Leon, Jay Ramirez
La Soga: Salvation is currently streaming on Amazon, Google Play Vudu and free on Tubi.
Released Jan. 28, 2021, in theaters and V.O.D.