''The Fantastic Golem Affairs'' ( es, El fantástico caso del Golem, link=no) is a 2023 Spanish absurdist

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

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 ...

written and directed by Burnin' Percebes (Fernando Martínez and Juan González) which stars

Brays Efe Brays Fernández Vidal (born 30 September 1988), best known by the stage name Brays Efe, is a Spanish actor and television personality. He became popular for his role in the comedy web series '' Paquita Salas''. Biography Brays Fernández Vidal w ...

. It also features

Bruna Cusí Bruna Cusí Echaniz (born 9 September 1986) is a Spanish actress, winner of Goya Award for Best New Actress The Goya Award for Best New Actress ( es, Premio Goya a la mejor actriz revelación, links=no) is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's prin ...

Luis Tosar Luis López Tosar (born 13 October 1971) is a Spanish actor and musician from Galicia. He is one of the most recognizable and versatile actors in Spain, best known for performances in films such as ''Cell 211'', ''Take My Eyes'', '' Sleep Tigh ...

Anna Castillo Anna Castillo Ferré (born 9 October 1993) is a Spanish actress. From 2013 to 2016, she played Dorita in soap opera ''Amar es para siempre''. Her film breakthrough came with the role of Alma in the drama '' El Olivo'' (2016) for which she won a ...

Javier Botet Javier Botet López (born 30 July 1977) is a Spanish actor. Often cast in creature roles, he has portrayed Tristana Medeiros in the ''REC'' franchise (2007–2012), the title character in '' Mama'' (2013), Set in '' The Mummy'' (2017), and Sl ...

Tito Valverde Fernando García Valverde (born 26 April 1951), better known as Fernando Valverde or Tito Valverde, is a Spanish actor. Born in Ávila, he became very popular to a television audience for his performance as Pepe in the 1995 comedy television ser ...

, Roger Coma, Nao Albet, and

Roberto Álamo Roberto Martínez Felipe (born 1 January 1970), better known as Roberto Álamo, is a Spanish actor who has appeared in more than fifty films since 1996. Álamo won the 2016 Goya Award for Best Actor for his performance as Javier Alfaro in ''May ...

. The plot follows Juan (Efe), a guy trying to unravel the mystery behind his best friend being shattered into pieces as if he were made of porcelain after falling from a roof. The film world premiered at the

26th Málaga Film Festival The 26th Málaga Film Festival took place from 10 to 19 March 2023 in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. '' 20,000 Species of Bees '' and '' Sister & Sister'' won the Golden Biznaga for, respectively, Best Spanish Film and Best Ibero-American Film. The ...

on 15 March 2023 ahead of its Spanish theatrical release on 16 June 2023.

Plot

Two male friends are playing a guess-the-movie game on a

rooftop A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

. After guessing two rounds ('' The Shining'' and ''

Alive Alive may refer to: *Life Books, comics and periodicals * ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler * '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka * '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...

''), one of the friends gets naked in the third round, starts mimicking a monkey and falls from the roof, shattering into pieces on a car. The surviving friend attends the

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

of the shattered man (David) alongside his dad and a woman working for him, Clara. After being left alone, the surviving friend is handed the bill for the funerary services. The surviving friend, presented as Juan Martínez, testifies to a couple of police agents about the incident. Back to his bed, Juan asks in social media if someone has experienced something similar to their best friend being shattered into pieces. Next morning, Juan receives a insurance company worker who tells him that he is responsible for the damage to the vehicle David crashed onto. An online post by a woman named Maria Pons answered Juan's online plea by telling that she has experienced the shattering of someone too. Juan visits David's friend Filtro. After having a sexual misunderstanding, Filtro angrily tells Juan that every possession of David is now registered to Juan's name. Juan's dad and Clara visit the company DEP with other funeral attendees, and they are explained that the death algorithm is broken and now every person is being assigned the same death by piano crushing. Juan dates Maria, and after Maria tells the story about her stepfather's shattering hand, they have sex. Juan leaves Maria's apartment and catches the couple of purported police agents spying on him. Filtro and his lawyer visit Juan to pressure him into changing David's will to their favour, unsuccessfully. When Maria is about to tell Juan more about her shattered stepfather in their second date, she dies by piano crushing. After the two purported police agents (Carlos and Roger) assault Juan's apartment, Juan hits Roger, who immediately shatters into pieces. Juan takes the unconscious Carlos to the Golem Solutions S.L headquarters in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, where he is told by a company official (Carlos' father) that their business is the manufacturing of companion

golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

s, and that David was a golem commissioned by Juan's father. The company official then dies by piano crushing. Juan meets with Clara, herself involved with the piano-throwing company (DEP), which was efficiently managed by David and which is now in shambles after his death. She asks Juan to talk to his father. Juan's dad tells Juan that he commissioned David for Juan when Juan was a child because Juan seemed to be a complete duffer. He also tells his son that pursuant to the company tradition, Juan needs to kill him. Upon getting acquainted with Carlos (and Carlos pulling an unsuccessful sexual advance on Juan), Juan proposes the recreation of David to Clara. Juan and Clara date and have sex. Filtro, his lawyer, Juan, and Clara (now Juan's lawyer) agree on splitting David's inheritance. Juan, Clara, and Carlos agree on Juan gifting a majority share of DEP to Clara, on Juan joining Golem Solutions as an associate to Carlos, and Carlos building another David. Upon meeting new David and Clara at the DEP offices and during a business travel by train to

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, Juan's dad dies a satisfactory death by throat slicing. Juan, Clara, David, and Carlos meet at the funeral of Juan's dad (Toni).

Cast

Production

The premise of the film originates from a scene of ''

Top Secret! ''Top Secret!'' is a 1984 American action comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker ( ZAZ). It stars Val Kilmer (in his film debut role) and Lucy Gutteridge alongside a supporting cast featuring Omar Shari ...

'' in which a German soldier shatters into ceramic pieces upon falling from a turret. According to the helmers, the film also owes a great deal of influence to

José Luis Cuerda José Luis Cuerda Martínez (18 February 19474 February 2020) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He was born in Albacete and died on 4 February 2020 at the age of 72 in Madrid from an embolism. He won four Goy ...

's work. It also pays tribute to ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American drama film written, produced, executive produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. The film centers on a melodramatic love triangle between amiable ...

''. An Aquí y Allí Films and Sideral production, the film was shot in

. It was lensed by Ion de Sosa. Shooting began on 17 August 2022.

Release

The film was presented at the

on 15 March 2023. It also screened as the opening film of the 29th FANT, the Fantasy Film Festival of Bilbao, in May 2023. It was released theatrically in Spain on 16 June 2023. The film made its North-American premiere at the

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

on 22 July 2023. It made it to film slate of the 2023

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Gi ...

for its US premiere.

Reception

Júlia Olmo of ''

Cineuropa The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe or simply Creative Europe MEDIA (formerly The MEDIA Programme of the European Union) is designed to support the European film and audiovisual industries. Budget The goal of programmers is to increase the ...

'' considered that Burnin' Percebes "achieve one of the best things in fiction. They make this story believable and enjoyable beyond its possibility in real life". Matías G. Rebolledo of '' La Razón'' deemed the film to be the most original and radical proposal from the Málaga Film Festival, pointing out that the leaning on Cusí's character ("the film's safety valve") throughout the final act saves the film from repetition. Quim Casas of ''

El Periódico de Catalunya ''El Periódico de Catalunya'' (, ), also simply known as ''El Periódico'', is a morning daily newspaper based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The paper publishes separate daily editions in Spanish and in Catalan. The two editions combined sell ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, pointing out that the helmers manage to build "something similar to absurd humor sketches" "following a thriller storyline that leads to a very particular aesthetics and a humorous study of human stupidity". Ricardo Rosado 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 4 out of 5 stars, considering that Burnin' Percebes underscore "their innate ability to make us dream with the necessary surrealist

costumbrismo ''Costumbrismo'' (sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily in the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19t ...

" otherwise highlighting the collaboration between the helmers and cinematographer Ion de Sosa as the best thing about the film.

Top ten lists

The film appeared on a number of critics' top ten lists of the best Spanish films of 2023: * 10th — ''

'' (critics)

References

External links

''The Fantastic Golem Affairs''
at ICAA's ''Catálogo de Cinespañol'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fantastic Golem Affairs, The 2023 films 2023 science fiction films 2023 comedy films Spanish science fiction comedy films 2020s science fiction comedy films Films shot in Madrid Golem films Aquí y Allí Films films 2020s Spanish-language films Surreal comedy films Absurdist fiction 2020s Spanish films Spanish LGBT-related films Films set in Madrid 2023 LGBT-related films