''Toro'' is a 2016

action thriller Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

film directed by

Kike Maíllo Enrique "Kike" Maíllo Iznájar (; born 3 June 1975) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for ''Eva'', which won him the 2011 Goya Award for Best New Director. Biography From 1994 Maíllo studies at the Escola Superior de ...

starring

Mario Casas Mario Casas Sierra (born 12 June 1986) is a Spanish actor. He rose to fame in Spain with the television series ''Los hombres de Paco'' (2007-2010), and later in the film ''Three Steps Above Heaven'' (2010). Early life and education Casas was ...

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 ...

and

José Sacristán José María Sacristán Turiégano (born 27 September 1937), better known as José Sacristán, is a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor. At Gijón International Film Festival in 2015, he received the Nacho Martinez Award. At the 60 ...

Plot

All of the action takes place within 48 hours. Reuniting after 5 years, two brothers, Toro and López (the former has just got out of jail while the latter was fleeing from law enforcement alongside his daughter after a theft), embark on a journey across

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

Cast

Production

The screenplay was co-penned by Fernando Navarro and

Rafael Cobos Rafael Cobos López (born 1973) is a Spanish screenwriter and playwright. He is a recurring co-scribe of Alberto Rodríguez's films. He has won two Goya Awards (for ''Marshland'' and '' Smoke & Mirrors''). Biography Rafael Cobos López was bor ...

. The film is an Apaches Entertainment (Apache Films), Atresmedia Cine, Zircozine, Escándalo Films, Maestranza Films and Ran Entertainment production, with 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 Marc ...

Movistar+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by Telefónica, which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL and as well as with satellites such as ...

, TVG and

Canal Sur Televisión Canal Sur ('South Channel') is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA), the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this region by an Act of Parliament in its statute of autonom ...

. Production also featured the association of Media 2013-Back up Media and it had support from ICAA,

ICO is an action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, released for the PlayStation 2 video game console in 2001 and 2002 in various regions. It was designed and directed by Fumito U ...

Junta de Andalucía The Regional Government of Andalusia ( es, Junta de Andalucía) is the government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Regional Government and the Government Council. The 2011 budget was 31. ...

, and

Xunta de Galicia The Xunta de Galicia (; "Regional Government of Galicia") is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President(s) and the specialized ministers (''Consell ...

. Shooting began by January 2015. It was shot in between Galicia (including

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

Cerceda Cerceda is a municipality of northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It belongs to the comarca of Ordes. It has a population of 5,597 inhabitants (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions ...

and

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

) and

(including

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Benalmádena Benalmádena () is a town in Andalusia in southern Spain, 12 km west of Málaga, on the Costa del Sol between Torremolinos and Fuengirola. Benalmádena is rich in attractive beaches and interesting places like the Colomares Castle, the 33-met ...

Torremolinos Torremolinos () is a municipality in Andalusia, southern Spain, west of Málaga. A poor fishing village before the growth in tourism began in the late 1950s, Torremolinos was the first of the Costa del Sol resorts to be developed and is still t ...

and

Fuengirola Fuengirola (), in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the pr ...

Release

''Toro'' pre-screened in

. It screened on 22 April 2016 as the opening film of the 19th

Málaga Spanish Film Festival Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most popu ...

. Distributed by Universal Pictures International Spain, the film received a wide release in Spanish theatres on the same day.

Reception

Pere Vall 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, highlighting Casas' performance (bringing brutality and tenderness together) as the best thing about the film, while missing more screentime from García-Jonsson. Reviewing for ''

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 ...

'', Beatriz Martínez scored 3 out of 5 stars, finding satisfying that ''Toro'' breaks the self-imposed limits of political correctness in Spanish cinema, also considering that the film featured "one of the most conceptual visual designs of recent times", although she considered that eventually Kike Maíllo's filmmaking hids behind "impostured images lacking a true soul". Lluís Bonet Mojica of ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

'' wrote that the cast (particularly Sacristán) was the film's best asset. He deemed however that the film does not quite come together, and that the non-stop action scenes fall into repetition and produce a certain weariness. Jonathan Holland of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote that while thundering along nicely and a "central trio of fine performances and satisfyingly breakneck pace", the film's "insistence on pushing all the right cinematic buttons means that below the surface, it doesn't quite stand up".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "2" align = "center" , 2017 , , rowspan = "2" , 9th

Gaudí Awards The Gaudí Awards ( ca, Premis Gaudí) are the main film awards of Catalonia, celebrated annually in Barcelona. The awards were established in 2009 by the Catalan Film Academy as a continuation and expansion of the Barcelona Cinema Awards (''Premi ...

, , , Best Production Supervision , , Toni Carrizosa , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Visual Fffects , , Rafa Galdó , ,

References

{{reflist

External links

''Toro''
at ICAA's ''Catálogo de Cinespañol'' 2016 films 2016 action thriller films Spanish action thriller films French action thriller films 2010s Spanish-language films Films set in Andalusia Films shot in Almería Films shot in the province of Málaga Atresmedia Cine films Maestranza Films films 2010s Spanish films 2010s French films