Goodbye

Juan is in prison and is granted day release to attend his daughter Estrella's first communion. That day she dies in what is described as an accident. Juan does not believe the description, and turns to his family to find out what happened: the group known as Los Santos, the most dangerous in the neighbourhood. Paco Cabezas directs, from a screenplay by Carmen Jiménez and José Rodríguez. Mario Casas plays Juan, with Natalia de Molina and Ruth Díaz. It was shot in Las Tres Mil Viviendas in Seville. Cabezas was born in the city and came back to shoot in Spain after a decade away. The neighbourhood is not background here but something closer to a character, and the people living there supported the production throughout. The narrative runs as a revenge thriller, but Cabezas puts the weight on poverty, police violence and the drug economy. The truth Juan goes after is the kind nobody wants to hear. It picked up three nominations at the 2020 Goya Awards and won none. Who it is for: viewers who like Spanish crime cinema and films where place is a character. Who it is not for: the genre shape is familiar and most of it can be seen coming. If you want something new, it is not here.