LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! It’s hard to fathom that in many parts of the world, women can’t willingly leave an abusive marriage. Even for some countries in the West, it wasn’t that long ago when women weren’t able to exercise this seemingly basic sense of agency. It’s with this context that we go into Paz Vega’s Rita, an affecting and sobering glimpse into a Spanish family in the midst of serious turmoil. Largely seen through the eyes of the titular Rita (a young Sofía Allepuz), it reminds us of the damage that domestic violence and emotional abuse can wreak upon children.
Famous Spanish actor Paz Vega directs and stars as Rita’s mother, Mari. Her husband José (Roberto Álamo) is a tyrant, prone to outbursts if his beer isn’t cold enough or if he has to miss a soccer match on TV. She’s desperate to leave her husband, and Spanish law had recently just allowed women to exercise that right (this places the film in the early 1980s). But how is she to survive as a stay-at-home mother when he is the breadwinner?
Dutiful Rita is more than willing to help her mother out with her younger brother Lolo (Alejandro Escamilla), but the recent health trouble of her grandma and the increasing frequency of intense arguments at home are beginning to take their toll. All she wants is a trip to the beach, but that soon becomes a pipe dream.
“…all she wants is a trip to the beach, but that soon becomes a pipe dream.”
Kids should be allowed to be kids, and perhaps the biggest tragedy of situations like these is how they miss out on the joys of youth. Allepuz is splendid as Rita, and she channels that sentiment perfectly. She should be at the beach having fun, but we can see her anxiety bubbling beneath the surface.
It’s not easy to direct children. Vega, though, clearly has an ability to tap into her innermost emotions, producing a character with nuance rarely seen in children. Rita sees and internalizes all and, in many ways, is the most adult performer in the film. This is no easy feat, and her direction here is worthy of acclaim.
The rest of the film around Rita doesn’t quite coalesce into an overly engaging experience. Her innocent dalliance with a local boy from the neighborhood feels half-baked, and her grandma isn’t on screen enough for her to play such an outsized role in the overall narrative. Vega doesn’t pull on these threads enough.
The movie’s conclusion feels more like a PSA than it does the end of an actual narrative work. It feels rushed and devoid of the tender care given to much of the rest of Rita. All told, it’s a moving film at times, but it’s also one begging for a more novel approach. Watching children go through challenging times is hard enough — that’s all the more reason to need something more original. There’s a lot to like here, but the sum isn’t greater than the individual parts.
Rita screened at the 2024 Locarno Film Festival.
"…character with nuance rarely seen in children..."
