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Álex Montoya’s brilliant third film brought Malaga Film Festival to tears with a plot, based on the comic by Paco Roca, where it is all too easy to stay and live.
Presented in the official section of the last Malaga Film Festival (where it won the Silver Biznagas for Best Screenplay, Best Music and the Audience Award, along with the Feroz Puerta Oscura Award, the Young Jury Award and a Signis special mention), La casa, opens in Spanish cinemas on 1 May, distributed by A Contracorriente Films. It is the third feature film directed by Álex Montoya after Asamblea [+] and Lucas [+], which won three awards in Malaga film festival’s Zonazine section in 2021.
But it was in the latest edition where he has established himself as a filmmaker capable of combining emotion with the applause of the audience, taking a step up to commerciality without neglecting quality. All thanks to the comic of the same name by Paco Roca (whose works have previously been brought to the screen, with greater or lesser effectiveness, in Wrinkles [+], Memorias de un hombre en pijama [+] and the miniseries La fortuna [+]) on which it is inspired, to a choral cast in perfect and admirable harmony and, above all, to a subject matter that is easy to identify with.
Because who hasn’t experienced family conflicts when that infallible glue of parents has passed away? And how can we not disagree when it comes to distributing or deciding on promised inheritances? This is the story of La casa, which takes place in a house over a few days. Three siblings – played by the magnificent David Verdaguer (who has just won his second Goya for Jokes & Cigarettes), Lorena López (Valencian actress not to be overlooked) and Óscar de la Fuente, who brings out the most unsympathetic character in the show on a high note – after the death of their father (Luis Callejo), are ready to discuss whether to sell the house where they spent so many summers or whether one of them will keep it.
But, as is usual in this kind of meeting sparks fly and deep-seated grudges resurface, envy, competition and, above all, the perpetuation of roles that have been entrenched since early childhood.
The plot of La casa may not appear to be the height of originality at first. However, the empathy evoked by the characters (we must also highlight the precise performances of the supporting actors Olivia Molina, Marta Belenguer, Miguel Rellán and María Romanillos) and situations, as well as a delicate and sensitive use of music and the camera lens, able to appreciate details, nudge the film towards that intimate territory that we all treasure (with grief and memories at the centre), making us relive identifiable sad, emotional and complex moments in our family relationships. This is why the film not only elicited many applauses, but also many tears at the recent Malaga Film Festival.
La casa is produced by Raw Pictures, Nakamura Films and Haciendo la casa AIE. It is exported by Latido Films.
