''Last Wishes'' ( es, Últimas voluntades, links=no) 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 Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonom ...

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, and television series like ''A ...

, Nerea Camacho,

Adriana Ozores Adriana Ozores Muñoz (; born 21 May 1959) is a Spanish theatre, film and television actress. Biography 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 yea ...

, 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, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

and

7 Televisión Región de Murcia La 7 is an autonomous television channel for the Region of Murcia, Spain. It is owned by Televisión Autonómica de Murcia, S.A. (TAM, S.A.) Test transmissions began on 14 April 2006, with the main launch on 20 September 2006. Logos *SDTV ver ...

. 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, Ab ...

, Fuente Álamo,

Mazarrón Mazarrón is a municipality in the 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 (named C1 or ''Castillitos''-small castles) bui ...

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 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 television series ''Polseres vermelles''. Monner was born in Barcelona. He debuted in Pau Freixa's film ''Herois'', and then ha ...

, and

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

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 (, ; es, Región de 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 ...

, including locations such as

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, Molina de Segura, Cartagena, Calasparra, Fuente Álamo, and

Cehegín Cehegín () is a town and municipality in the Comarca del Noroeste of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, Spain, situated some 66 km from the city of Murcia. It has a population of approximately 16,248 with 8227 males and 8021 ...

(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 Spanish language monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)( ...

'' 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 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 a ...

'' 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 an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

's Carter in ''

Get Carter ''Get Carter'' is a 1971 British crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detecti ...

''.

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