Entertainment

Spanish Film Festival: Abracadabra

Abracadabra

Through the laughter and silliness is a sincere look at relationship dynamics and women in Spanish culture.

In India there is a type of film known as Masala . This denotes films that are a mixture of a wide range of genres. A bit of comedy, a bit of action, a bit of drama and so on. I would like to call Abracadabra a masala film, a tapas film if you will. It’s a film that takes an intriguing premise, your neglectful husband is possessed by a kind and caring yet murderous spirit. What do you do? The film is equal parts comedy, mystery, paranormal and drama. It’s takes an engaging story polishes it with effective storytelling and directing and adds in a look at the machismo culture of Spain.

There’s not too much more to the story then what I’ve already explained. Carlos (Antonio de la Torre) is an inattentive, aggressive oaf with an unfulfilled wife, Carmen (Maribel Verdu). A hypnotism show at a relatives wedding seems to go wrong and Carlos finds himself going in and out of being possessed by a spirit named Tito. Carmen and her nephew/hypnotist Pepe then investigate how to reverse the spell while learning more about Tito.

A sequence of hilarious and amusing events unfold as Carmen becomes a sleuth into a murderers life and Carlos/Tito deal with sharing a body. Abracadabra is more or less a provocative and light-hearted affair with a novel premise but the performances of its main cast and creative presentation brings a lot of life to this film. Through the laughter and silliness is a sincere look at relationship dynamics and women in Spanish culture.

Abracadabra screens as part of the 2018 Spanish Film Festival which opens tomorrow at Palace Nova Eastend and Prospect. Check out show times here.

Check out the Festival website here.

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