''My Big Night'' ( es, Mi gran noche, links=no) is a 2015 Spanish

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Álex de la Iglesia Alejandro "Álex" de la Iglesia Mendoza (born 4 December 1965) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, producer and former comic book artist. De la Iglesia's films combine grotesque and very dark elements such as death and murder: most of his ...

, who also co-wrote it with Jorge Guerricaechevarría.

Plot

José has been sent by the

employment agency An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In developed countries, there are multiple private businesses which act as employment agencies and a publicly-funded employment agency. Public employment agencies One ...

as an

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

for the taping of a New Year's Eve television special (four months in advance) in an industrial pavilion just outside

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 ...

, leaving his mother Dolores (an old woman unable to detach herself from a big

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

she tore from her husband's grave) alone. He is replacing another extra who died in the wake of an accident involving a production crane during a rehearsal. Hundreds of people like him are locked in the set, replaying rehearsal after rehearsal, applauding for musical performances they do not actually see and celebrating the false arrival of the new year. José starts to fall for dinner companion Paloma (a

jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. The word ''"jynx"'' meaning the bird wryneck and sometimes a charm or spell has been in use in English since the seventeen ...

ed woman) to the amusement of the rest of extras sharing the table (Antonio, Yanire, and Josua). Meanwhile major clashes of egos are unfolding backstage. On the one hand, veteran (and ruthless) crooner Alphonso comes face to face with his bitter rival, Latin pop young sensation Adanne as Alphonso is not willing to let anyone else than him to come out at the top. Yuri, Alphonso's presumed adopted son and primary target of his cruelty, has hired an assassin (Óscar) to get rid of Alphonso. A purported fan has managed to get a

vial A vial (also known as a phial or flacon) is a small glass or plastic vessel or bottle, often used to store medication as liquids, powders or capsules. They can also be used as scientific sample vessels; for instance, in autosampler devices i ...

with Adanne's

semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Sem ...

so he can be blackmailed. On the other hand, the two co-hosts of the show and an actual disfunctional couple (Roberto and Cristina) cannot stand each other and fight over the trust of the producer Benítez, who is aware the channel is struggling to avoid its closure. Meanwhile a mobile control unit formed by Rosa and Amparo stays aloof trying to save the insane television shoot.

Cast

Production

A Enrique Cerezo PC and Telefónica Studios production, the film had the participation of TVE and

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

and support from ICAA.

Release

The film's world premiere was at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015. Distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 23 October 2015.

Accolades

References