After spending two months in a rehabilitation center, Marga (Emma Suárez)returns home. Her family is waiting for her there; a family that silently suffered, hid, and avoided her addiction for years. After her arrival, Marga tries to resume her previous life along with her husband (Dario Grandinetti), while her youngest daughter Blanca (Natalia de Molina), and sees how the attention she pays her mother affects both her relationships and her dream of being a professional dancer. A year later, "the elephant" remains in the room as huge as ever. At least now, everyone can see it.
Emma Suárez, Natalia de Molina, and Dario Grandinetti star in this poignant family drama, all of then giving adequate interpretations. Emma Suárez stands out as a successful architect who returns home after spending two months in a rehabilitation center due to an addiction problem which her family has lived with in silence for years. The debut film by Aitor Echevarria, which, avoiding clichés, deals with addictions and their devastating effects on the family unit. A depressing, slow, and boring film about the problems of alcoholism and the consequences it has on a family. The movie unfolds slowly and feels long despite its short runtime. Aitor Echevarria addresses alcohol addiction from the perspective of loneliness, lack of communication, imposed limits, and silences, leading him to ask: "Why do the most toxic family dynamics revolve around open lies?"
The picture feels tedious, but this is partially made up for the the short 80-minute runtime. As well as the fine performances of Emma Suarez and Natalia de Molina, the latter provides numerous dance musicals, who demonstrates notable dancing skills, And Natalia de Molina was nominaded 2025: Nominee Carmen Award Best Lead Actress
The story drags on and is uninspiring, focusing solely on the consequences of alcoholism among family members and not on the process through which the protagonist falls, suffers, and develops the habit of drinking. That's why the director should have better focused on the subject of the process of falling into alcoholism and should have followed the style of the much better and more prestigious American films on the subject, such as: ¨The Lost Weekend¨ by Billy Wilder
¨Days of Wine and Roses¨ by Blake Edwards , ¨When a Man Loves a Woman¨by Luis Mandoki.
As it happens, I've seen a similar film alongside this one, titled "Polvo serán," released almost at the same time. It also deals with an illness affecting an elderly woman and its effects on the family. Both films are very slow, thrilling, and depressing, featuring great veteran actresses-the latest being Angela Molina, the one under review by Emma Suarez-and both feature showy musical numbers, but the results being quite disappointing.
Dismantling an Elephant (2024) rating 4.5/10. The film is only recommended for fans of Emma Suárez and Natalia de Molina; others should stay away.
