***SPOILER ALERT ***
This film is well acted (particularly by its child actors) with a heart-wrenching story of child abuse and the loyalty of children to each other. It also portrays an alternative to the abusive dysfunctional family of the abused boy, by delving into the dynamics of the family of the abused boy's friend. One very original touch is the way a child who is essentially wise and responsible and mature beyond his years (the well-adjusted best friend) is misunderstood by his 'hip' parent who assumes that the child is deceiving him and behaving in the irresponsible and foolish way that the father did as a child. Unfortunately, the film completely collapses when the adults behave in a way that is absolutely unbelievable. Is there something about Spanish society that I'm not aware of? A child is brutally beaten by his father, runs for help to the family of his best friend where he shows up bloody and bruised, is taken to the hospital by this caring family AND THERE IS NO INTERVENTION BY THE POLICE???? Are not hospitals required to report child abuse when it is so blatant and when the child is forthcoming about the perpetrator? How could a caring adult not report the boy's father to the police? And how could he insist that the child return to his own home where he is certainly in danger of being further injured or even killed? It was at this point that I left the theatre. Whatever the outcome, the film had become a pointless narrative with no relationship to reality.
This film is well acted (particularly by its child actors) with a heart-wrenching story of child abuse and the loyalty of children to each other. It also portrays an alternative to the abusive dysfunctional family of the abused boy, by delving into the dynamics of the family of the abused boy's friend. One very original touch is the way a child who is essentially wise and responsible and mature beyond his years (the well-adjusted best friend) is misunderstood by his 'hip' parent who assumes that the child is deceiving him and behaving in the irresponsible and foolish way that the father did as a child. Unfortunately, the film completely collapses when the adults behave in a way that is absolutely unbelievable. Is there something about Spanish society that I'm not aware of? A child is brutally beaten by his father, runs for help to the family of his best friend where he shows up bloody and bruised, is taken to the hospital by this caring family AND THERE IS NO INTERVENTION BY THE POLICE???? Are not hospitals required to report child abuse when it is so blatant and when the child is forthcoming about the perpetrator? How could a caring adult not report the boy's father to the police? And how could he insist that the child return to his own home where he is certainly in danger of being further injured or even killed? It was at this point that I left the theatre. Whatever the outcome, the film had become a pointless narrative with no relationship to reality.