Like El Chacal de Nauheltoro to which it plays subtle homage, Alejandro Fernández's rigorously restrained study of violence and justice uses a true story to offer an engaging allegory about the relationship of the state to its citizens. In this case, the hero is a lonely forester tormented by an abusive, bullying neighbor seemingly determined to push him over the edge. To Kill a Man is notable for its detached camera, which uses long sequence shots to give equal focus to the landscapes and cityscapes as to the action that unfolds within them. Fernández makes careful use of slow time both to raise the suspense of his film and to evoke the frustrated waiting for intervention from a bureaucratic and ineffective criminal justice system.