''Salve Maria'' is a 2024 Spanish

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed, co-written by Mar Coll starring Laura Weissmahr. Based on the novel ''Amek ez dute'' by Basque writer Katixa Agirre, it follows Maria (Weissmahr), a promising young writer and new mother, who becomes obsessed by the case of a woman who drowned her twins in the bathtub. The film competed for

Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to b ...

in main competition of

77th Locarno Film Festival The 77th Locarno Film Festival was held from 7 August to 17 August 2024. '' The Crowd'' by King Vidor, accompanied by live music from the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, screened the night before the festival began, and '' The Flood'' by Gian ...

and had its world premiere on 8 August 2024. It is mostly shot in Catalan.

Synopsis

Maria, a talented young author and new mother, comes across a disturbing headline: a French woman has drowned her 10-month-old twins in the bathtub. This horrifying event captures Maria's thoughts, turning into an all-consuming fixation. She grapples with the question: Why did the woman commit such an act? From then on, the shadow of infanticide hangs over Maria's existence, haunting her.

Cast

* Laura Weissmahr as Maria Agirre *

Oriol Pla Oriol Pla Solina (born 1993) is a Spanish actor from Catalonia. Biography Oriol Pla Solina was born in Barcelona in 1993, son to Quimet Pla (founding member of ) and Núria Solina (founding member of ). He made his debut onstage at age 6, late ...

as Nico * Giannina Fruttero as Ana * Belén Cruz

Production

''Salve Maria'' marks the return of Mar Coll to the cinema. Produced by Escándalo Films and Elastica Films with the support of ICEC and ICAA, and 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

Movistar Plus+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by , which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL as well as with satellites such as Astra. The pl ...

. Mar Coll talking to ''

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), ...

'' about the protagonist said, "María is a repentant mother, an association of words that generates automatic unease". Filming began in the last week of January 2024 in Barcelona,

La Vall de Boí La Vall de Boí (, formerly known as Barruera) is a municipality and narrow, steep-sided valley in Catalonia. It lies in the Alta Ribagorça county in the Alt Pirineu region, on the edges of the Pyrenees. It has a population of . The valley is b ...

(

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

) and

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

Release

''Salve Maria'' premiered on 8 August 2024, as part of the

, in Competition. It also made it to the official selection slate of the

69th Valladolid International Film Festival The 69th Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci) took place from 18 to 26 October 2024, in Valladolid, Spain. '' They Will Be Dust'' opened the festival. Background In June 2024, the festival announced the update of its branding image ...

. The film will be released on 31 October 2024 in theatres by Elastica Films.

Reception

Mariana Hristova reviewing the film at Locarno for

Cineuropa Cineuropa is an online information portal dedicated to the promotion of European cinema. It publishes daily news, reviews, interviews, and industry reports and maintains a database of information. It is available in four languages: English, Fre ...

indicated that while the script is skillfully written and effectively portrays the protagonist's intense emotions, the focus on symptoms rather than delving into the underlying reasons for the character's emotional breakdown feels superficial. The obvious pressures of personal time constraints and societal expectations related to motherhood are explored, but deeper analysis is lacking. Jonathan Holland of ''

ScreenDaily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned ''Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involve ...

'' described ''Salve Maria'' as a film "whose concerns feel totally in tune with the times". Beatriz Martínez 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 film 4 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be a "dark, tremendously disturbing, suffocating work that talks about motherhood and

postpartum depression Postpartum depression (PPD), also called perinatal depression, is a mood disorder which may be experienced by pregnant or postpartum women. Symptoms include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and extreme cha ...

in an unprecedented way". 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 4 out of 5 stars, declaring it "impeccable in its form". Carmela López Lobo of '' La Razón'' rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, highlighting "Laura Weissmahr's excellent work" and the "deeply unsettling" nature of the film as its best. Elsa Fernández-Santos 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 ...

'' wrote that the chilling picture "confronts the viewer with the tragedy of a woman dragged into the repulsion of her own flesh".

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes 2024 drama films 2024 films Films shot in the province of Barcelona Films shot in the province of Tarragona Films shot in the province of Lleida 2020s Catalan-language films 2020s Spanish-language films 2020s Spanish films Spanish drama films Films based on Spanish novels Films scored by Zeltia Montes Films about filicide Spanish psychological drama films Postpartum depression in film