Spanish actor Paz Vega makes her directing debut with this sensitive portrait of domestic abuse and patriarchy in 1980s Spain. It’s told through the eyes of seven-year-old Rita (Sofía Allepuz), whose mum, Mari (played by Vega) is trapped in a violent marriage. We see the world how Rita sees it: filled with of moments of joy and discovery; her sense of wonder adds tenderness and hope to the story. It’s never voyeuristic (the violence happens almost entirely off screen), but Rita is effective at evoking how each member of the family is brutalised by abuse, living in a constant state of hypervigilance.
Rita works hard. Her little seven-year-old hands scrub, carry heavy plates and wash dishes to make her mother’s life a little easier. Rita’s five-year-old brother Lolo (Alejandro Escamilla), is anxious and timid, much to the irritation of their taxi driver dad José Manuel (Roberto Álamo). He is a man clenched with anger and frustration. “You’re an idiot,” he snaps at his wife with a contempt and fury that made me wince. Vega is terrific as Mari, a woman who is tender and loving with her children, but seems to have switched off some part of herself in order to live with José Manuel; she is on auto-pilot, drained and exhausted.
