Spain
2019 93 mins OV Spanish Subtitles : English
Despite still living with her parents, Alba (Iria del Río) just turned 30, and she’s hitting a country house to celebrate with her friends and with Pablo (Adam Quintero), the love of her life. After dinner, Pablo takes Alba into another room… and suddenly breaks up with her. The next day, Alba finds herself arriving at the country house with her friends and Pablo. They’re still together. Later, he breaks up with her again. Alba’s trapped in some kind of time-loop. The next day, they arrive at the country house. With a queasy stomach, Alma realizes that each repetition is running shorter than the last. She’s not in some kind of infinite loop after all. She’s experiencing a countdown. And time is running out.
Having previously blazed the Fantasia screen with the shorts HIBERNATION (2012) and CENIZO (2016), which together went on to win no fewer than 55 awards on the festival circuit, Spanish writer-director Jon Mikel Caballero is returning with his long-awaited feature debut. What initially begins like the GROUNDHOG DAY of breakup films quickly reveals itself to be a smart, thoughtful fantasy work that’s as much about self-discovery and growing into adulthood as it is about love and time-loops. Caballero employs a brilliant aesthetic in which the film’s very framelines are slowly narrowing in against his characters from the opening moments. Combined with del Rio’s phenomenal performance, the effect, first all but imperceptible yet soon impossible to lose sense of, gradually builds into something that plays with engrossing urgency as the film evolves to a deeply impactful place. A moving, youthful and unique genre work, WKND has already won two awards in its homeland. We’re thrilled to be bringing the film to Montreal for its first appearance on the continent. – Mitch Davis
