"Magical Girl" (Spain, Carlos Vermut)

Good people can do some terrible things when they're desperate.  An unemployed father trying to buy his dying daughter her one last wish.  An unstable woman trying to hide her mistakes from her husband any way she can.  And a reformed ex-con trying to protect a woman he loves.

All these are woven together slowly and methodically, with the director giving us enough time at the beginning to sympathize with the characters before he lets the narrative take hold.  In this slow burn of a film the moments of shock and horror are juxtaposed with flashes of absurd humour.

Given how little violence there is in most of the film, the gasps from the audience were frequent and delicious.  There were way too many empty seats for the world premiere of this shocking and darkly funny film.

After this excellent movie, I'm pretty sure I'm completely in love with Spanish cinema.  Be afraid of what I might do to protect it.....