''Under Her Control'' ( es, La jefa, links=no, translation, The Boss) is a 2022 Spanish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Fran Torres in his feature length debut, starring

Aitana Sánchez-Gijón Aitana Sánchez-Gijón de Angelis (born 5 November 1968) is a Spanish-Italian film actress. Biography She was born in Rome on 5 November 1968, to a Spanish father , a history lecturer exiled from Francoism, and an Italian mother, Fiorella d ...

and Cumelén Sanz.

Plot

Sofía, who works for a multinational company, gets pregnant. Desperate for offspring, Sofía's boss Beatriz offers her a bargain involving the child (to be given in adoption) in exchange for a job

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. Instead of interrupting her pregnancy, Sofía accepts the offer.

Cast

Production

''La jefa'' is Fran Torres' debut feature film. The screenplay was penned by Laura Sarmiento. Produced by Feelgood Media, Francisco Torres Quincoces, Hugo-Daniel Boyero Garmendia, Penúltima Toma AIE, Teoponte PC and Audiovisuales del Monte, filming took place in 2021, shooting in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in July.

Release

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 an ...

, it was theatrically released in Spain on 29 April 2022, grossing €22,400 at the domestic box office. It was released on-demand by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

on 31 August 2022 as ''Under Her Control''.

Critical response

Pablo Vázquez 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 film with 4 out of 5 stars praising "its twisted and playful nature, worthy of the best

exploitation cinema An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or Exploitation fiction, lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical ...

", assessing the give-and-take between a

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...

-esque Sánchez-Gijón and the "young and enchanting" Cumelén Sanz to be the engine of the film. Oti Rodríguez Marchante of ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

'' scored 2 out of 5 stars, writing that "the way in which the plot is complexified is overly forced, but it is easy to see the place towards which the plot is tumbling". Carmen L. Lobo of '' La Razón'' gave it 3 out of 5 stars, praising "an always stupendous" Sánchez-Gijón as well as Cumelén Sanz, while also observing the similarities of the story with that of '' The Daughter''.

References