Shadows on the Wall | It Snows in Benidorm

It Snows in Benidorm

dir-scr Isabel Coixet
prd Agustin Almodovar, Pedro Almodovar, Esther Garcia
with Timothy Spall, Sarita Choudhury, Carmen Machi, Ana Torrent, Pedro Casablanc, Edgar Vittorino, Leonardo Ortizgris, Malcolm McCarthy, Miguel Such, Victor Andrews, Ben Temple, Alfonso de Vilallonga
release Sp 11.Dec.20,
UK 2.Sep.22
20/Spain 1h57

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A gently observational quality infuses this deeply personal Spanish drama, a fish-out-of-water story that has almost poetic implications. Writer-director Isabel Coixet lets the film move at a slow, human pace that digs deeply into the two lead characters while finding moments of humour, emotion and intrigue along the way. And cleverly, the mystery at the centre of the plot has little to do with what's actually going on here.

After leaving his job in a Manchester bank, Peter (Spall) decides to go rekindle his relationship with his brother Daniel in Benidorm. But when he arrives in southern Spain, he learns that Daniel has vanished. Living in his brother's penthouse apartment looking out over the city and seaside, Peter begins searching for his brother, consulting with sassy police chief Marta (Machi) and connecting with Alex (Choudhury), an enigmatic woman who manages Daniel's burlesque club and sometimes performs on-stage herself. Peter is fascinated by her, and she seems genuinely pleased that he's nothing like his brother.

Daniel's disappearance is connected with dodgy business dealings, which lead Peter to a frightening confrontation with a local butcher (Casablanc), who is clearly a mobster. And then there's Daniel's cleaning lady Luci (Torrent), who also works for Alex, and seems to place some sort of hex on Daniel's digestive system. There are several other seemingly disconnected story elements swirling through the film, creating an offbeat portrait of a place where misfits go to find themselves.

Spall is superb as Peter, a grey shell of a man who blossoms into someone charming, especially after he begins to wear Daniel's colourful clothes. His scenes with Choudhury are beautifully played, a delicate dance that hints at romance but is far more complex than expected. Choudhury has wonderful presence as the always-surprising Alex, who knows what she wants and where she wants to be. She dismisses Peter's questions about her past because it simply doesn't matter.

While everything is too loose and out of reach to carry much of a kick, there's a strong idea in the importance of looking forward rather than back, and of being open to unexpected opportunities. Coixet inventively depicts Benidorm both as a garish holiday spot, flooded with annoying tourists, and as a place retirees go to prove that there's some life left in them, as they exercise and sing on the beach. Peter finds it very difficult to imagine a future anywhere but grey old England. But if anyone can make him open his eyes, it's Alex.

themes, language, violence 15.Jun.22

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