The Limits of Control

The Limits of Control follows a solitary stranger, credited as Lone Man, who arrives in Spain to carry out a job outside the law. He keeps his purpose to himself, trusts no one, and moves through the country with a focus that sits oddly alongside a dreamlike detachment. Along the way he encounters a series of unusual figures who pass on cryptic messages, and the journey becomes as much an inward one as a physical crossing of Spain. Isaach De Bankolé plays the central role, with Alex Descas, Jean-François Stévenin, Óscar Jaenada, Luis Tosar and Paz de la Huerta among the cast.

Jim Jarmusch wrote the screenplay and directed. The film sits tenth in the fourteen features he has directed to date, arriving after Broken Flowers in 2005 and before Only Lovers Left Alive in 2013. It was produced by Jon Kilik, Stacey E. Smith and Yukie Kito, and is a co-production between Spain, the United States and Japan.

Released in 2009 and running 116 minutes, the film drew a critics' rating of 5.2 out of 10 from 130 reviews, while on TMDB it holds 6 out of 10 from 325 votes. Audience scores therefore come in slightly above the critical average, though both place the film in moderate territory.