''Cowards'' () is a 2008 Spanish bullying-themed drama film written and directed by

José Corbacho José Corbacho Nieto (born 12 December 1965) is a Spanish comedian, screenwriter, actor, and film and television director from Catalonia. Biography José Corbacho Nieto was born on 12 December 1965 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, and was diagnos ...

and Juan Cruz which stars Eduardo Garé and Eduardo Espinilla.

Plot

The plot takes place in

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; ), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Barcelonès Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'', in Catalonia (Spain). It is part of the Barcelona metropolitan area, ...

, following the plight of

school bully School bullying, like bullying outside the school context, refers to one or more perpetrators who have greater physical strength or more social power than their victim and who repeatedly act aggressively toward their victim. Bullying can be ver ...

Guille and his victim,

redhead Red hair, also known as ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 2–6% of people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive alle ...

Gaby.

Cast

Production

The film is a Castelao Productions and Antena 3 Films production. Shooting locations included

Release

The film was presented at the 11th

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since ...

in April 2008. Distributed by

Filmax Filmax International is a Spanish motion picture production company and film distributor based in Barcelona, and one of Spain's largest integrated film and television groups. It produced the ''REC'' horror series, and owns the Nirvana Films and ...

, it was released theatrically in Spain on 25 April 2008.

Reception

Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' deemed the film to be "a well-turned sophomore drama", even though "over-strident in its political correctness".

Javier Ocaña Javier Ocaña (born 1971) is a Spanish film critic. Life and career Ocaña was born in 1971 in Martos, province of Jaén. He earned a licentiate degree in law from the University of Granada and a master's degree in journalism from the Autonomo ...

of ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' considered that the helmers had moved from the "freshness, boldness and uniqueness" of their debut work to the "doctrine, discourse and academicism" of ''Cowards'', underpinning "a coarse and inconsequential discourse". 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, finding it "so stubborn in the cliché, in the formula, in the most well-known archetype".

Accolades

, - , align = "center" , 2009 , ,

23rd Goya Awards The 23rd Goya Awards honouring the best in Spanish filmmaking of 2008 were presented on 1 February 2009 at the Madrid's Palacio Municipal de Congresos. The gala was hosted by Carmen Machi, also featuring Muchachada Nui. '' Camino'' was the big w ...

, , Best Supporting Actress , , Elvira Mínguez , , , ,

References

{{authority control Films about bullying Films set in Catalonia Films shot in the province of Barcelona 2000s Spanish-language films 2000s Spanish films Castelao Producciones films Atresmedia Cine films Spanish teen drama films