Madre

Adaptation of the eponymous short film by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, nominated for an Oscar. The movie follows Elena (Marta Nieto), a woman who, after losing her six-year-old son on a beach in France, remains trapped in a tunnel of grief and personal reconstruction. Ten years after that tragic event, Elena still lives on that same beach, working as a bar manager, in a stark apartment that seems more like a transit space than a home. Her life takes a turn when she meets Jean (Jules Porier), a teenager who painfully reminds her of her lost son.

Madre is a psychological drama that addresses grief from its ambiguity and emotional depth. Rodrigo Sorogoyen poses questions rather than answers, inviting the viewer to reflect and fill in the narrative gaps with their interpretation. Just as the fog blurs the boundaries between sea, land, and sky, the film explores the blurred line between reality and Elena's emotional projections.

Elena is never clear whether Jean is truly her lost son or merely a reflection of her despair. The connection between them is presented with an ambiguity that hovers between the filial and the romantic, leaving the interpretation of this emotionally charged relationship up to the viewer. Jean can be seen as a symbol of rebirth or a second chance, but also as a disturbing reminder of how pain can distort our perception of reality.

Marta Nieto's performance is the soul of the movie. Her portrayal is a masterful study of contained pain, of human strength and vulnerability. Nieto conveys with astonishing sobriety the experience of a mother who has not only lost her son but also the certainty of what happened to him. The rest of the cast, including Jules Porier as Jean, does their job effectively, but this is, without a doubt, a film that rests entirely on Nieto's shoulders, who makes the impossible tangible and heart-wrenching.

Visually, Sorogoyen uses the beach as an omnipresent symbol of Elena's loss. The sea, vast and indecipherable, reflects both the absence and the impossibility of finding answers. The visual atmosphere created by the director highlights Elena's desolation, with open spaces that contrast with the darkness of her inner world. The long takes, characteristic of Sorogoyen's style, not only enhance the sense of immediacy, as in the tense phone call at the beginning, but also immerse the viewer in the protagonist's emotional chaos.

Madre is a deeply introspective work that presents the aftermath of a traumatic loss in all its ambiguity. It shows us how what we lose can return disguised, and how from the outside this pain can be misunderstood, even seen as a pathological obsession. Rather than judging Elena, the film invites us to witness her grief and understand that a single moment can change everything: it can take everything away or give everything.

After watching the short film predecessor, which was nominated for the Oscar, I was expecting a story related to the dissapearance of Elena's son, Iván. It's been a real surprise how it's been developed, which takes place ten years after that tragedy and introduces us to a mother, Elena, who has just recovered and she has the bad or the good luck to meet a boy, Jean, who is age her son would be today.

The script is quite good, it's a scant irregular and especially the scene of the meeting with three men in the night club is totally left over, it's very unpleasant and adds nothing to the story. The rest of the characters on several occasions are overacted. In spite of this, I love the director's daring and the social criticism that love between a mand and a much younger woman is well seen, and the opposite is frowned upon.

It's magnificent to enjoy each image with this beauty of photography and the great chemistry between the two protagonists.

Finally, to highlight Marta Nieto's performance, there are no words to describe it. It's the best spanish performance of 2019.

Great beginning, then fading out into oblivion. Woman turns psycho after her son gets abducted. She befriends a boy the same age of her son. Minor traces of a plot that does not go anywhere. Watcher's beware. There is a chance you might have better things to do in your life with two hours than waiting for this film to end. I hope this was no spoiler: Maybe this film got financed on the first five pages of the screenplay and no one in the funding committees cared to read the screenplay to the end. 2* for the first 5 minutes

Story plays off of child kidnapping fears and in particular the missing child from a Portugal beach resort a decade ago. Inadequate investigation makes this movie more fantasy than substance. The missing child used a phone so police can identify it's location from past cell tower use; GPS; other technologies. Travel records & security video in the area could have been used. We see none of this in the movie. It's 10 years later and emotionally torn mom sees someone that could be her missing son. DNA, easy to get, would have been a quick simple solution. Instead we get a weird love story.

This is a tense and gripping intriguing movie that's all too real . Marta Nieto and her mother Blanca Apilanez are hanging around the apartment on what's a typical day for them. When Marta's answers a call, an unimaginable horror unfolds via cell phone . On the other end is her 6-year-old son. He's on holiday with his father , Marta's ex . Only her son tells her, as his cell phone battery is dying, that dad left him and now he's alone on a beach ... he thinks it's France . These desperate words of his son were the last that she learned about him. In the end, she finds herself on the same beach where her son disappeared, works as a manager in a restaurant and begins to leave this dark tunnel, where she has been anchored for so long. After ten years her life shakes again when she accidentally meets Gene : Jules Perier , a French teenager resembling her son. Following an overlong and sympathetic conversation between them, during which she arranges to gain her attention . A strong bond arises along their particular relation , which ultimately wreaks havoc and mistrust around them .

It deals with the complexity and sensitivity of the human relations and the unexpected results . It takes place in a few locations, at a flat , a seaside restaurant and some French beaches in Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains, Seignosse, Landes , France . It turns out to be dramatic enough and unfolding dramatic , precipitable happenings . An enjoyable tale with top-notch acting especially by lead actress Marta Nieto as the hysteric mother who attempts to keep her sanity together as the mounting horror engulfing her life escalates with each painful second. Fresh interpretations about a peculiar relationship when a mother and a teen sharing an unlikely meeting , then emerges a mutual attraction that winds up in unexpected results . It's a captivating and stunning performance by Marta Nieto, and a brilliant piece of filmmaking from Mr. Sorogoyen . The two protagonists giving awesome acting , while exchange life experiences, philosophies , stakes and in the typical conversational fashion , but things go wrong after and results in a mysterious conclusion . The film relies heavily on excessive dialog with sometimes monotonous conversation and slow-moving scenes . It is a remake from the short ¨Madre¨ (2017) , being nominated for an Academy Award, directed by Sorogoyen himself and with similar actors that was perhaps one of the best Spanish shorts ever made.

It packs a colorful and adequate cinematography by Alejandro de Pablo, Sorogoyen's regular cameraman . And a sensitive and evocative musical score by composer Olivier Arson , including a number of catching French songs . The motion picture was well and mysteriously directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen . Rodrigo is a good writer, producer, director assistant and filmmaker with a few films. Sorogoyen has directed successful TV series , such as : ¨La pecera de Eva¨, ¨Fragiles¨, ¨Vida loca¨, ¨Impares¨ and notorious films , such as : ¨8 citas¨, ¨May God save us¨ 2016 with Antonio de la Torre, Javier Pereira, Roberto Alamo , and ¨El Reino¨ 2018 with Antonio De la Torre, all of them have won various awards and Goyas. And furthermore, a short , Oscar nominated, titled Mother . Rating 6.5/10 . Better than average. Notable film. Well worth seeing . This Madre (2019) won several Prizes and Nominations , such as : Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 2022 Winner CEC Award Best Actress (Mejor Actriz) Marta Nieto , Nominee CEC Award Best Adapted Screenplay Isabel Peña , Rodrigo Sorogoyen. ASECAN 2020 Nominee ASECAN Award Best Spanish Film. Días de Cine Awards 2020 Nominee Días de Cine Award Best Spanish Actress Marta Nieto 2nd place Best Spanish Film Rodrigo Sorogoyen 4th place . European Film Awards 2020 Nominee European Film Award European Actress Marta Nieto . Feroz Awards, ES 2020 Nominee Feroz Award Best Actress in a Leading Role Marta Nieto . Fotogramas de Plata 2020 Nominee Fotogramas de Plata Best Movie Actress Marta Nieto . Gaudí Awards 2020 Nominee Gaudí Award Best Supporting Actor Alex Brendemühl . Goya Awards 2020 Nominee Goya Best Lead Actress Marta Nieto Best Adapted Screenplay Isabel Peña Rodrigo Sorogoyen Best Editing . Haifa International Film Festival 2019 Nominee Carmel Award Best International Film , Rodrigo Sorogoyen . International Cinephile Society Awards 2021 Nominee . ICS Award Best Picture 23rd place Best Actress Marta Nieto. José María Forqué Awards 2020 Winner José María Forqué Award Best Actress Marta Nieto, among others.