Cambridge Film Festival 2023: Film #6
Sort of a trans Naissance des Pieuvres (2007), and equally weird for a 37-year-old guy to watch by himself in the cinema at times. Still, whilst there's clearly something in the Spanish water that is giving us extremely well-observed and finely acted *shomin-geki* recently (eg. Alcarràs and Matria), I just couldn't get over the "we are all bees in a hive" and mermaid metaphors and the references to Christian martyr Lucia of Syracuse. It wasn't ever overdone, yet the cumulative effect felt contrived in a low-key way.
Synopsis: Lucía is an eight-year-old girl, who sometimes struggles as the world tries to catch up with the fact that she is trans. As the summer holidays pass, she explores her femininity alongside the women of her family who at the same time reflect on their own femininity.