The 24 best recent Spanish films (2019-2020)
2020 is a difficult year for movie premieres in theaters. Some tapes are seeing the light of day on streaming platforms, others will have to wait a few more months.
In the meantime, we propose you a list with the 24 best recent Spanish films, 2019 and 2020. Some titles have featured at festivals. Others, further removed from commercial cinema, promise to leave their mark on the viewer in the coming months.
Here is a selection of must-see Spanish films, configured from more to less, with the most relevant films on the current Spanish cinema scene.
1. The infinite trench (2019)
Direction: Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi and José Mari Goenaga
Gender: Drama
The Spanish cinema of 2019 surprised with titles like this. The infinite trench It is a film that is worthwhile for the great performances of its protagonists Belén Cuesta and Antonio de la Torre.
The story centers on a newly married couple, Rosa and Higinio. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the man's life is in danger when he is hunted down and blamed for being a mole. Higinio decides to hide in a tiny hole behind a wall of his house. His stay there lasts more than 30 years.
It is a film that uncovers a story that occurred during the war that stands out for having an agile narrative thanks to the fragmentation by episodes and a tremendously human story.
2. Or that burns (2019)
Direction: Oliver Laxe
Gender: Drama
Galician cinema left its mark in different film competitions, such as Cannes or the Goya, with jewels like this one. Or that burns (What burns) is a film that stands out for its poetic character present in its photography and its tremendous connection with nature. It also stands out for the interpretation of the revelation actress Benedicta Sánchez, who debuted as a performer in this film and won a Goya award in 2020 for her work.
The story is set in a Galician town, where Amador returns from jail after serving a sentence for causing a fire. There he has to live with his mother again. One day the fire devastates the village in which they live, which will change their lives again.
3. Pain and Glory (2019)
Direction: Pedro Almodovar
Gender: Drama
Pain and glory It is one of Pedro Almodóvar's most anticipated films and one of the most acclaimed recent Spanish films at national and international film festivals. Without a doubt, it is not one of the best films of his director, but perhaps it is the most personal.
Antonio Banderas plays Salvador Mallo, a film director who tries to face the decline of his career while he is immersed in the memories of his childhood, his first love and his first encounter with the world of the cinema. At this stage in his life the man tries to face his past to heal old wounds.
4. Ara Malikian: a life between the ropes (2019)
Direction: Nata Moreno
Gender: Documentary film
It is one of the great titles of recent Spanish documentary cinema. It is a film that narrates the life of the Lebanese violinist Ara Malikian while he is immersed in his last tour of different countries in the world, including Spain.
The film is a journey through his life through music, a story of overcoming a young man who had to flee from the war at age 14 and who saw music as the only way to save him.
5. Klaus (2019)
Direction: Sergio de Pablos
Gender: Animation
Spanish animated cinema surprised in 2019 with the premiere of this film available on Netflix that swept the Oscars. It is a movie to enjoy with the family that serves to rescue the Christmas spirit at any time of the year.
A postman named Jesper is sent by his father to a frozen island in all respects, from the place to its inhabitants, in order to establish a post office there. However, the locals never send letters. He soon meets Alva, the village teacher, and Klaus, a carpenter who made wooden toys. Jesper has an idea that he will do that will definitely transform the place and its inhabitants.
6. While the war lasts (2019)
Direction: Alejandro Amenábar
Gender: War drama
A film that has garnered both criticism and praise for its director. The film starts with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and revolves around the figure of Miguel de Unamuno, who supported and resigned the Franco regime.
7. Els dies que vindran (2019)
Direction: Carlos Marques-Marcet
Gender: Drama
The days to come It is one of the great discoveries of Catalan cinema of 2019. It is a film starring David Verdarguer and María Rodríguez Soto, which stands out for its brilliant performance.
The film chronicles the pregnancy process of a thirty-year-old couple who did not expect to be parents, attending to the good and bad moments during the nine-month period. Follow the pregnancy of the actress, also pregnant in real life.
8. Outdoors (2019)
Direction: Benito zambrano
Gender: Intrigue
Outdoor is a film whose story of friendship between a man and a boy, surrounded by the arid landscapes of the Geoparque de Granada, sneaked into the Goya 2020 awards in the categories of best film and script adapted.
It is set in the post-war era and based on the homonymous work by Jesús Carrasco. The narrative begins when a boy flees from the men who are after him. Before him an infinite plain of land, soon a shepherd crosses his path with whom a beautiful friendship immediately emerges. Everything in the open, which allows the viewer to be channeled into a journey of incredible landscapes in the purest western style.
9. Who kills iron (2019)
Direction: Paco Plaza
Gender: Thriller
Who kills iron it is one of the great interpretive triumphs of Luis Tosar. A story that treats hatred, resentment and revenge as a condition to destroy a life and family relationships. The film surprises with some unexpected script twists.
Tosar plays Mario here, a man who lives in a town on the Galician coast and who works as a nurse in a nursing home. Everything changes the day Antonio Padín, one of the most well-known drug traffickers in the area, enters the center.
10. The hole (2019)
Direction: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Gender: Thriller. Dystopia
His director's debut feature that led him to the award for Best Film in Sitges and three nominations at the Goya Awards.
The hole is a dystopian story that raises a great moral debate and stands out for its script. A building divided by levels. In each of them there are two people. Meanwhile, a platform descends and ascends with food going through the different floors. Those upstairs can enjoy the delicacies. Those below live off the calamity of the remains.
She may also interest you: The hole movie
11. Seventeen (2019)
Direction: Daniel Sánchez Arevalo
Gender: Drama. Comedy
This road movie available on Netflix is the story of a young man who is admitted to a juvenile center. On the verge of coming of age, Héctor begins a therapy to reintegrate himself in which he will take care of Oveja, a dog from an animal shelter.
When she finishes therapy and can no longer see the animal, the young man decides to go on a journey in search of her. And soon she begins a motorhome adventure with her brother and her grandmother.
12. Mother (2019)
Direction: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Gender: Drama
This film is part of the homonymous short film by its director, which was nominated for an Oscar. If this film stands out for something, it is because of the interpretation of Marta Nieto, which cost her the nomination for best actress at the Goya Awards.
The film revolves around Elena, a mother who suffers the loss of her child ten years after her disappearance. Soon a young man appears in her life who reminds her of her son, which will cause her life to return to chaos.
13. Adú (2019)
Direction: Salvador Calvo
Gender: Drama
Adu it remains one of the highest grossing films in recent Spanish cinema. Some critics maintain that this tape is looking for the easy tear. But this film hides a story that thousands of people live daily, a reality to which you cannot close your eyes.
This film deals with the migratory drama from different points of view, intertwining three different stories. A child who tries to flee from misery. An environmental activist trying to reconcile with his daughter, who seems to be invaded by problems and a coast guard who works on the border of Melilla, where many try to jump the fence every day.
14. Advantages of traveling by train (2019)
Direction: Aritz Moreno
Gender: Suspense
It is the first film by San Sebastian Artiz Moreno and, without a doubt, one of the most surprising films of the world. recent Spanish cinema, especially for bringing to the big screen something that we are not used to watch.
It is an adaptation of the homonymous novel by Antonio Orejudo. Advantages of traveling by train It is a film that stands out for combining different genres, from comedy to horror, from humor to thriller, even the romantic genre.
The story takes place during Helga's return train journey, who has just admitted her husband to a psychiatric clinic. On the way she meets Ángel, a psychiatrist specializing in personality disorders, who tells her one of the worst cases she has ever faced as a doctor: a dangerous patient obsessed with garbage.
15. Arima (2019)
Direction: Jaione camborda
Gender: Drama. Fantasy.
Arima is a film in Galician capable of enveloping the viewer in the real world and that of the imagination. Between dream and reality.
This film tells the story of four women and a girl, whose lives change with the arrival of two unknown men, who flee among them through the city and will disturb the stillness of the protagonists.
16. A Thief's Daughter (2019)
Direction: Belén Funes
Gender: Drama
This is perhaps one of the best social dramas in recent Spanish cinema.
It tells the story of a 22-year-old young mother, who lives off precarious jobs and whose only mission is to rebuild her family. Her father just got out of jail and she has taken care of her little brother. Soon, the girl realizes that her father is her main obstacle to achieving her desire for a normal life.
17. Elisa and Marcela (2019)
Direction: Isabel Coixet
Gender: Drama
Although there are many who admit that this is not one of the best films of her director. The reality is that its premiere on the Netflix platform aroused the public's curiosity. The film has a very beautiful aesthetic, in which her photography and the frames attract her attention.
The story based on true events about the first gay marriage in Spain in 1901. Elisa and Marcela are two women who fall in love and get married when the first one pretends to be a man. Thus they manage to deceive the parish priest who makes their marriage official. But soon the inhabitants of the town where they live become suspicious and turn against them. Later, the protagonists have to flee to Portugal.
18. Otto's Site (2020)
Direction: Oriol Puig
Gender: Drama
This film debut shows us a journey to maturity through its protagonists. Otto's site It is a film that focuses on the characters, who seem not to find their future path.
The film focuses on a young man who has just lost his father and has little expectations. One day they decide to end the life of some dogs that are on the outskirts of town. Everything changes when they meet a young woman who intends to leave the town, this will make the protagonist rethink her life.
19. Longa noite (2019)
Direction: Eloy Enciso
Gender: Drama
Longa noite a postwar film narrated in a very different way than usual in this type of cinema. Some may dismiss it for having a slow pace, however it offers an extraordinary atmosphere that has the Galician landscape as the protagonist. The film also combines fragments of plays and real letters from political prisoners of the Franco dictatorship.
It is a film that shows winners and losers. Anxo is a Republican who returns to his hometown in Galicia in order to deliver a letter. To do this, he must cross the border and face the traces left by the Civil War in his place of origin.
20. The Island of Lies (2020)
Direction: Paula Cons
Gender: Thriller
The island of lies It is a film that stands out especially for its setting and photography. The story is based on a historical event that occurred in 1921 when the Santa Isabel steamship sank off a Galician island.
Three women are in charge of getting on a boat and rowing in the dark of night, until they manage to save 48 people of the more than 200 who were on the boat. After what happened, an Argentine journalist visits the place to investigate what happened and will expose the women's statements about the event.
21. Offering to the Storm (2020)
Direction: Fernando Gonzalez Molina
Gender: Thriller
It is the third film that ends the film adaptation of the Baztán Trilogy (The Invisible Guardian and Legacy in the Bones) by the writer Dolores Redondo. Offering to the storm has been one of the most anticipated releases on Netflix.
The trilogy takes place in the Baztán Valley (Navarra) and navigates through the mythology that surrounds the Navarra area. In this film, Inspector Amaia Salazar investigates what is behind the death of several children while she discovers the darkest secrets of the place.
22. Father There Is Only One (2019)
Direction: Santiago Segura
Gender: Comedy
One of the most successful Spanish comedies of 2019. It is a family film that is a remake of the Argentine film Mama went on a trip. Father there is only one It is a tape by and for entertainment, it is nice but its message does not last beyond the time of its viewing.
Santiago Segura plays Javier, a father who has never taken care of his five children. One day his wife, who takes care of everything, goes on vacation. Javier will have to deal with the occurrences of all his children, an experience that will change his life forever.
23. Invisibles (2020)
Direction: Grace Querejeta
Gender: Dramatic comedy
Invisible stars three of the best actresses in Spanish cinema, Adriana Ozores, Emma Suárez and Nathalie Poza, who play three women who have a good friendship and meet every day in a park to take a walk. On their walks they will reveal secrets that they did not know about each other.
It is a modest film about friendship that also contains vindictive touches that is a manifesto of women.
24. There is only one father 2: the arrival of the mother-in-law (2020)
Direction: Santiago Segura
Gender: Comedy
It is the long-awaited second part of Father there is only one, which has come to put a little humor to 2020, has become one of the great successes of the summer.
Javier's family is about to increase with one more member. Everything changes with the arrival of his mother-in-law, who arrives to turn everything upside down.
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