Romería film review: Blood ties and buried truths
A young woman’s search for identity leads her into the heart of a fractured family
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‘Does sharing the same blood make you part of the same family?’ wonders 18-year-old orphan Marina as she makes contact with estranged relatives from her late father’s side. This sun-kissed trip is a pilgrimage of sorts, as the Spanish meaning of its title alludes to; it follows a naive young woman whose quest to prove her paternal lineage reveals some long-buried family secrets. Carla Simón, writer-director of the award-winning Alcarràs, is at the helm of this stunning Spanish coming-of-age drama (a fictionalised account of her own backstory), with naturalistic newcomer Llúcia Garcia impressing as Marina.
Travelling solo, Marina makes the journey to Vigo, where she is warmly welcomed by her uncle Lois (Tristán Ulloa). Once there, she seeks out a copy of her father’s death certificate in order to secure a scholarship and discovers that she needs the cooperation of her grandparents (José Ángel Egido and Marina Troncoso) to confirm that she is indeed his daughter. The prickly pair turn out to be difficult to deal with and there are tensions aplenty among the wider family group. Meanwhile, just to make things even more messy, Marina develops a crush on her cousin Nuno (Mitch Martín).
An extended fantasy sequence has Marina imagining herself in her mother’s shoes as she puts together the pieces of her parents’ relationship found in her mother’s diary and gleaned from her father’s family. The idyllic seaside setting is fruitfully offset by the shame relating to Marina’s father’s death and the seediness of her parents’ drug-addled lifestyle. Simón steers us through emotionally choppy waters with confidence and class, while Garcia is sensational as a seemingly meek teen who is shaken to the core by revelations but refuses to compromise, possessing more courage and spirit than she knows.
Romería is in cinemas from Friday 8 May.