Peter Lanzani

In Argentina 1985 (2022), Peter Lanzani plays deputy prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo alongside Ricardo Darín. It is a useful place to see an actor whose strength is fitting into an ensemble without carrying the same mannerisms from part to part. Lanzani has described approaching the film without trying to imitate how the prosecutors spoke or walked, putting the story first. We rate that instinct: a courtroom drama gives an actor plenty of opportunities to become conspicuous.

The television heartthrob image took some shifting. Casi Ángeles (2007–2010) helped establish it, and resistance to that image complicated his move into serious film roles. Pablo Trapero’s The Clan (2015) provided the breakthrough, casting him as Alejandro Puccio in the drama about the Puccio family kidnappings. That move matters more than a simple change of genre: he was being asked to sustain a leading film role after becoming familiar to a television audience.

The subsequent film work has tested him in different-sized parts. In Luis Ortega’s El Ángel (2018) he has a supporting role; Mariano Cohn’s 4x4 (2019) puts him at the centre of a contained thriller. His willingness to alter his appearance and manner gives those directors something useful to work with. We are more persuaded by his place among other actors, though, than by transformation as an achievement in itself.

Santiago Mitre’s Argentina 1985 gives us the clearest reason to recommend him, with a reservation about the film around him. We were moved by the testimony, which earns the courtroom drama its emotional force. Darín’s weary humour gives the prosecution a human face, and Lanzani’s stated preference for serving the story fits that approach. The historical background needs more space, and the performances cannot supply all the missing explanation. Start there for Lanzani and Darín working together.