Crazy About Her

Adri spends a whole night walking the city with Carla, whom he has just met, and cannot find her the next day. When he tracks her down he learns she is an inpatient at a psychiatric clinic. Visiting is not enough, so he finds a way to have himself admitted and fakes symptoms to stay. The subject is not love but a man considered healthy entering the institution of his own accord. From outside Adri is making a romantic gesture; to the people inside he is just someone taking up space, and at one point the film says so. The form is a romantic comedy that uses the clinic as backdrop. The supporting characters are drawn close to types. That is also the production's most contested ground: mental illness is used as the stage for one man's grand gesture and the clinic is at times made charming. The film is aware of the objection and tries to correct for it late on by shifting to Carla's point of view, which is its best passage. Dani de la Orden directs. Álvaro Cervantes and Susana Abaitua lead. It was released on Netflix and watched widely outside Spain. Who it is for: viewers who like Spanish romantic comedy. Who it is not for: anyone who will find mental illness used as a narrative device uncomfortable; the objection is fair.