''The Tunnel Gang'' ( es, Los del túnel, links=no) is a 2016 Spanish

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film directed by Pepón Montero. The ensemble cast features

Arturo Valls Arturo Valls Mollà (born 24 March 1975) is a Spanish actor, primarily featured in comedy roles, as well as television presenter. He became popular for his performance in the comedy series '' Camera Café'' from 2005 to 2009. Biography Arturo ...

, Raúl Cimas,

Natalia de Molina Natalia de Molina (born 19 December 1990) is a Spanish actress from Andalusia. Since her film debut in the 2013 dramedy ''Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed'', she has featured in films such as '' Food and Shelter'' (for which she won the Goya Awar ...

and Neus Asensi, among others.

Plot

The plot tracks the interactions of a group of survivors from a disaster (they were trapped in a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

for 15 days) after their rescue.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Pólvora Films, Estela Films, Lanube Películas and Toniconinormal AIE, and it had the participation of

Atresmedia Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A., previously Grupo Antena 3, is a Spanish media group, present in the television, radio and filmmaking industries. Significant shareholders include Grupo Planeta and Bertelsmann. On 6 Mar ...

Movistar+ Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television ( Movistar+) in Spain. Movistar ...

and Canal Sur Radio y Televisión. Filming began on 27 September 2015 and lasted for 7 weeks. Shooting locations included

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 ...

and Toledo. was responsible for the music.

Release

The film had its

world premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its firs ...

at the 18th (Abycine) on 22 October 2016. Distributed by eOne Films Spain, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 20 January 2017.

Reception

Jordi Costa 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 Tunnel Gang'' 4 out of 5 stars, assessing it to be reminiscent of Italian post-war comedies, and considering that, rather than featuring deliberate comical one-liners, the comedy value of the whole is relentless by relying on an "absolute confidence in a perfect and dedicated cast and a great ability to know in what voice and tone the everyday and even the trivial will turn out to be hilarious". Andrea G. Bermejo 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 4 out of 5 stars, describing the film as being, in addition to "unclassifiable", "wilfully comic". Beatriz Martínez 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 sel ...

'' scored 3 out of 5 stars, underscoring the film to be "a little eccentricity, a rara avis out of the menu", surprising due to the "strangeness of its proposal". Raquel Hernández Luján of ''

HobbyConsolas ''HobbyConsolas'' is a Spanish video game magazine founded in 1991 by Hobby Press and published by Axel Springer SE. The first issue appeared in October 1990. The monthly magazine offers information about games for all consoles, and since 2012 ha ...

'' scored 55 out of 100 points ("average"), deeming ''The Tunnel Gang'' to be a "strange comedy tinged with drama", highlighting the narration of what happened in the tunnel as the best thing about the film, while negatively assessing the excessive number of characters, the "irregular" pace and "certain lack of wit in the dialogues".

Accolades

, - , align = "center" , 2018 , ,

5th Feroz Awards The 5th award ceremony of the Feroz Awards was held at Polideportivo Antonio Magariños, in Madrid, on January 22, 2018. It was hosted by Julián López and aired on #0. Winners and nominees The nominees were announced on December 5, 2017. The c ...

, , colspan = "2" , Special Award , , , , align = "center" ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunnel Gang, The 2010s Spanish-language films Spanish comedy films 2016 comedy films Films shot in the province of Toledo Films shot in Madrid 2010s Spanish films