The film takes place at the end of the year in the Community of Madrid, where Teresa (Carmen Machi) and her family live. Teresa's daughters and her mother-in-law, a nonagenarian called Martina (Lola Cordón) with senile dementia, arrive at her house. The daughters:Carmen (Bárbara Lennie), Paloma (Victoria Luengo), Alicia (Beatriz Grimaldos) will meet their mother and grandmother at a family reunion to commemorate the anniversary of their father's death. All of them join, except for her daughter Noelia (Irene Escolar), who is in Argentina, where it's summer in winter (hence the title).
´Verano en diciembre (Summer in December¨ is an ensemble film featuring a good cast of well-known lead and supporting actors who deliver strong performances, including the following:
Carmen Machi, Bárbara Lennie, Victoria Luengo, Beatriz Grimaldos, Lola Cordón, Antonio Resines, Irene Escolar, Nacho Fresneda, Silvia Marsó. All of them are the protagonists of this comedy with touches of drama, featuring a touching story of a very pleasant family. Thus, the film was deservedly nominated for the 2025 Goya Award for Best Original Music by composer Sergio de la Puente . Actress and playwright Carolina África's feature film directorial debut is based on her play of the same name. It tells, between laughter and tears, the reunion of four generations of the same family: a mother, her four daughters, her granddaughter, and her mother-in-law, an elderly woman with senile dementia being cared for by her mother.
The first half is primarily a comedy, and the final part is more of a drama, but throughout, there's an attempt to blend the two genres in the story of this family made up of four generations of women, with their joys and sorrows, centered around the character of Teresa, well played by Carmen Machi.
I have to admit that it's not my type of film, and that may be why I didn't connect with those situations, which, with a few exceptions, didn't make me laugh, nor did the family dramas move me.
The best scenes are those in which the friendly group of sisters, reminiscing about their childhood in flashbacks, begin to dance choreographically to the musical background of a classic popular pop song. Although I wasn't satisfied, I think it may have its audience, because it's a type of film that tends to have many fans and has a cast full of familiar faces.
It's an uneven dramedy with its ups and downs in which neither the comic nor the dramatic situations work at all.
The motion picture was decently but unevenly written/directed by Carolina África. She is usually a secondary actress who has participated in films as A este lado del mundo, Puenting, Carmen & Lola (2018), Derecho a soñar, La reina de España, Carmen & Lola, Almost 40 (2018)
Almost 40. ¨Verano en diciembre¨ is her film debut but she has previousl written various TV series and films , such as:
La matemática del espejo (2021-2022), Mujeres en la 2 (2020), Torres y Reyes (2013), Mapa de recuerdos de Madrid (2014). Rating: 6/10. Acceptable and passable. The film will appeal to Spanish cinema enthusiasts and fans of the splendid actors who work in it.
