''Last Wishes'' () is a 2023 Spanish thriller drama film directed by Joaquín Carmona Hidalgo which stars

Óscar Casas Óscar Casas (born 21 September 1998) is a Spanish actor. Biography Óscar Casas was born on 21 September 1998 in Barcelona. He made his television debut as an actor at age 6 in the series ''Abuela de verano'', whereas he made his feature film ...

Fernando Tejero Fernando Tejero Muñoz-Torrero (born 24 February 1967) is a Spanish actor. Among his work, he has acted in multiple films, including '' Football Days'' (2003), for which he won the Goya Award for Best New Actor, '' The Longest Penalty Shot in ...

, Nerea Camacho,

Adriana Ozores Adriana Ozores Muñoz (; born 21 May 1959) is a Spanish theatre, film and television actress. Early life Adriana Ozores was born in Madrid on 21 May 1959. She is the daughter of actors and Concepción Muñoz. Her father died when she was 9 ye ...

, and Carlos Santos.

Plot

The plot concerns a father (Coque) trying to win back forgiveness from his son (Andrés) after leaving prison. Coque abandoned Andrés when the latter was a toddler.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was penned by Salvador Serrano (also featuring as a cast member) and Helio Mira. The film was produced by Biopic Films and Maskeline, a Visual Foundry alongside La Charito Films, with the participation of

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

and 7 Televisión Región de Murcia. It also had support from the of

Molina de Segura Molina de Segura is a municipality of Spain in the autonomous community and province of Murcia. It is located 10 km from the provincial capital, Murcia. It borders the towns of Las Torres de Cotillas, Alguazas, Lorquí, Ulea, Archena, A ...

, Fuente Álamo,

Mazarrón Mazarrón is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Region of Murcia, autonomous community and province of Murcia, southeastern Spain. The municipality has an area of , and a population of 31,562 inhabitants in 2019. A military fort (name ...

and

Calasparra Calasparra () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Murcia, Spain. It shares borders with Cieza, Mula, Cehegín, Moratalla and province of Albacete. History There were people living in Calasparra during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Th ...

. Shooting began in December 2021, but production was halted on 19 December due to a localised

COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Soon after, ...

which affected several crew members. Once resumed in 2022, some characters were recast due to schedule obligations of the original cast, and thus

Àlex Monner Àlex Monner Zubizarreta (born 27 January 1995) is a Spanish actor. He is known for his role as Lleó in the Catalan language, Catalan television series ''Polseres vermelles''. Monner was born in Barcelona. He debuted in Pau Freixa's film ''Her ...

, and

Alberto San Juan Alberto San Juan Guijarro (born 1 November 1967) is a Spanish film, stage and television actor. Biography Alberto San Juan was born on 1 November 1968 in Madrid, the son of cartoonist and radio announcer Pilar Guijarro Ortiz de Zárate. He ...

were replaced by Óscar Casas,

and Carlos Santos. Shooting re-started from scratch after the hiatus. It was shot in the

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a popul ...

, including locations such as

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, Molina de Segura, Cartagena, Calasparra, Fuente Álamo, and Cehegín (Valentín).

Release

Upon the wrap of shooting, the film's theatrical release was tentatively expected for late 2022. Distributed by Alfa Pictures, ''Last Wishes'' was released theatrically in Spain on 30 June 2023.

Reception

Philipp Engel of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost po ...

'' rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, underscoring it to be a "a mix of genres that does not quite work". Fausto Fernández of ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is a Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó ...

'' rated the "more than remarkable" film 4 out of 5 stars, finding a likeness of Tejero's Coque to

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

's Carter in ''

Get Carter ''Get Carter'' is a 1971 British gangster film, gangster thriller film, written and directed by Mike Hodges in his directorial debut and starring Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, John Osborne, Britt Ekland and Bryan Mosley. Based on Ted Lewis (write ...

''.

Accolades

, - , , , 14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards , , Best Score – Independent Film (Foreign Language) , , Carla F. Benedicto , , , ,

References

{{authority control Films shot in the Region of Murcia Spanish thriller films 2020s Spanish films 2020s Spanish-language films 2023 thriller films