''Official Competition'' ( es, Competencia oficial, links=no) is a 2021

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Gastón Duprat Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) *Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston ...

and Mariano Cohn, from a screenplay by Duprat, Cohn and Andrés Duprat. It stars

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (; ; born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British A ...

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

and Oscar Martínez.

Plot

On his 80th birthday, Humberto Suárez, an ageing multi-millionaire, wonders about his legacy and considers financing the construction of a bridge. Instead, he decides to finance a film so that people will look fondly upon his legacy. He selects the reclusive

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

laureate Lola Cuevas to be the director, with the screenplay being adapted from a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning novel titled ''Rivalry'' about a man who is unable to forgive his brother for killing their parents in a drunk-driving incident. The two brothers are to be played by acclaimed stage actor Iván Torres and celebrity actor Félix Rivero; Iván is a

method actor Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to: *Scien ...

who has extensively prepared his character's past, while Félix is a more mainstream Hollywood actor who finds Iván's methods pointless. Lola proves herself to be a highly eccentric director who makes extensive notes and requires increasingly bizarre exercises of her actors, such as forcing them to repeat single lines or words until she believes they are convincing enough, refusing to show up at rehearsals, and at one point dangling a large (fake) boulder over the heads of Iván and Félix via a crane to emulate the tension of the scene they are rehearsing. One session involves Iván and Félix being tied to chairs and forced to watch as Lola crushes their various awards in an

industrial shredder An industrial shredder is a machine used to break down materials for various applications such as recycling, volume reduction, and product destruction. Industrial shredders come in many different sizes and design variations based on what particle ...

, including a handmade one that was given to Iván by students at a disabled school where he once taught. One day during rehearsals, Félix tells Lola and Iván that he has been diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

and is on

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

, hoping that ''Rivalry'' will be his final masterpiece. Iván privately suggests to Lola that he could double up in order to play both brothers if Félix ends up unable to complete the project. Felix later confesses to them both that his diagnosis was a lie that he used in order to prove to the pair that he could fool them with his acting. Iván commends his performance and tells him that he believes Félix to be a better actor than he is, before revealing that this too was a lie as payback. Eventually, they reach the final scene of the film, where Félix's character murders Iván's and takes over his brother's life. At a party held by Humberto to commemorate the film starting shooting, Félix overhears Iván describe him as the worst actor he has ever worked with. Félix confronts him on the roof of the building, where Iván attempts to punch Félix who accidentally throws him from the roof, rendering him comatose. Assuming that he must have jumped, Iván's wife is comforted by Félix; however, Lola seems to recognize that Félix is merely acting surprised at the incident. There is a montage of what everyone ends up doing next. Suárez builds and opens the bridge. The film proceeds to shooting, with both roles played by Félix. At a post-screening Q&A, Lola bluntly denies any perceived meaning that the critics read into her film and gives one-word answers. In the final scenes narrated by Lola who directly addresses the audience, Humberto decides to finance a bridge, Félix returns to Hollywood projects and Iván wakes from his coma and curses Félix's name.

Cast

Production

In January 2020 casting was announced featuring

, Oscar Martínez,

Pilar Castro Pilar Castro (born 12 October 1970) is a Spanish film, television and stage actress. Biography Pilar Castro was born in Madrid on 12 October 1970. Before turning actress, she worked as a dancer. Then she trained her acting jobs at Cristina Ro ...

Irene Escolar Irene Escolar Navarro (born 19 October 1988) is a Spanish cinema, theatre, and television actress. Escolar received a Goya Award for Best New Actress The Goya Award for Best New Actress ( es, Premio Goya a la mejor actriz revelación, links=no ...

Carlos Hipólito Carlos López Hipólito (born 1956), better known as Carlos Hipólito, is a Spanish actor with a long stage career. He is perhaps most familiar to a television audience for performances in series such as '' Desaparecida'', ''Guante blanco'', ''Lo ...

José Luis Gómez José Luis Gómez may refer to: * José Luis Gómez (actor) (born 1940), Spanish actor and director * José Luis Gómez (footballer) (born 1993), Argentine footballer * José Luis Gómez Martínez (born 1943), Spanish professor * Joselu (footba ...

, Nagore Aranburu, Koldo Olabarri and Juan Grandinetti with

Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn Gastón Duprat (born December 8, 1969 ) and Mariano Cohn (born December 1, 1975) are TV and film directors and producers from Argentina. They began their career in TV in 1999, when they created and produced Televisión Abierta, an innovative and ...

directing from a screenplay penned alongside . Cruz and Banderas had only shared onscreen time before during two minutes of Pedro Almodóvar's 2013 film ''

I'm So Excited! ''I'm So Excited!'' is a 2013 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, and Raúl Arévalo. Its original Spanish title, ''Los amantes pasajeros'', has the double meani ...

''. The film was produced by The Mediapro Studio, 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 ...

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

, and

Orange España Orange Espagne S.A.U., more commonly known by its trade name of Orange España, is a mobile network operator in Spain. It was previously known as Amena, a brand of Retevisión, until 2005, when it was bought by France Télécom (now Orange S.A. ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in February 2020. In March 2020, production was halted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Shooting resumed in September 2020 and the wrap was announced in October 2020. Filming took place in the Spanish cities of Madrid,

San Lorenzo de El Escorial San Lorenzo de El Escorial, also known as El Escorial de Arriba, is a town and municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located to the northwest of the region in the southeastern side of the Sierra de Guadarrama, at the foot of Mount ...

and

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...

Release

''Official Competition'' had its world premiere at the

78th Venice International Film Festival The 78th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 September 2021. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho was appointed as the President of the Jury, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked as the festiv ...

on 4 September 2021. It also screened at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in mid-September 2021.

Buena Vista International Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...

released the film in Spain on 25 February 2022. Protagonist Pictures handled the international distribution rights.

Star Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...

(formerly known as the Latin American branch of Buena Vista International) acquired distribution rights for Latin America. In the case of Argentina, the film was released on 17 March 2022.

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...

purchased the theatrical release rights for the United States.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, 96% of 156 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Its premise may resonate most with hardcore film fans, but ''Official Competition''s tight focus and sharp humor have a universal appeal." At the 2021 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, it won the award for Outstanding International Feature. At the

2021 Vancouver International Film Festival The 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 40th event in the history of the Vancouver International Film Festival, was held from October 1 to October 11, 2021.Dana Gee"VIFF back in theatres for 40th anniversary festival" ''The Province' ...

, it won the Audience Award for most popular film in the Galas and Special Presentations program.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" , 2022 , , 30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best Actress in an International Production , , Penélope Cruz , , , , , - , rowspan = "3" align = "center" , 2023 , , rowspan = "1" ,

10th Feroz Awards The 10th ceremony of the Premios Feroz, presented by the Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España, will talke place at the Auditorio de Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain, on 28 January 2023, to recognize the best in Spanish cinema and te ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Comedy Film , , , , rowspan = "1" , , - ,

37th Goya Awards The 37th Goya Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, is scheduled to take place at the FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre in Seville, Andalusia on 11 February 2023. Background On 31 May 202 ...

, , Best Cinematography , , Arnau Valls Colomer , , , , , - ,

10th Platino Awards The 10th Platino Awards, presented by the Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales (EGEDA) and the Federación Iberoamericana de Productores Cinematográficos y Audiovisuales (FIPCA), took place on 22 April 2023 at IFEMA P ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Ibero-American Comedy Film , , , ,

References

External links

''Official Competition''
at ICAA's ''Catálogo de Cinespañol'' * * * {{Metacritic movie 2021 films 2021 black comedy films 2021 comedy-drama films 2020s Argentine films 2020s Spanish films 2020s Spanish-language films Argentine black comedy films Argentine comedy-drama films Buena Vista International films Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films about actors Films about film directors and producers Films directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn Films shot in Madrid Films shot in the province of Ávila Spanish black comedy films Spanish comedy-drama films