The Open Door

Rosa works as a prostitute in Madrid, a trade she took over from her mother. Her mother Antonia has grown old and is starting to lose her mind; she believes she is Sara Montiel, the famous Spanish star of the fifties. The two of them live in the same flat, wearing each other down. Rosa cannot manage to be happy. Then one day a small girl turns up at the door and stays. It is Marina Seresesky's first feature. The mould is black comedy but the material is heavy: poverty, old age and a job nobody chose. The film makes Rosa neither a victim nor an example; the woman is tired, sardonic, and able to look at her own life from outside. Carmen Machi plays Rosa and Terele Pávez the mother. Eighty-four minutes. The humour comes out of how these three put up with each other, and the film rescues nobody in the end.