Film Review: Penelope Cruz steals the show in Official Competition

"Directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, the film is a satirical look at the inner workings of the film industry, but as they say in the business, there is almost always some truth in every performance"

Fri, 26 Aug, 2022 - 15:00

Cara O'Doherty

Competencia Oficial/Official Competition
★★★★☆

Spanish language film Official Competition takes a satirical look at the lengths director Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz) will go to ensure her next film is her best. 80-year-old Humberto Suárez (José Luis Gómez) has a pile of money and wants to invest in something that will last. If the adage is true, film is forever, so he buys the rights to a book and hires an esteemed but eccentric director to bring his dream to life.

Lola casts Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez), a prestigious theatre actor and international fan favourite Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), to star as estranged brothers with an on-screen relationship that mirrors their own. Félix and Iván cannot stand each other; Félix is a preening peacock who adores adulation, whereas Iván is repulsed by wealth and the trappings of stardom.

Lola’s extreme and often cruel rehearsal practice sets the actors on a collision course, ensuring Senior Suárez’s film will never be forgotten — that is, if it ever makes it to the filming stages.

Directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, the film is a satirical look at the inner workings of the film industry, but as they say in the business, there is almost always some truth in every performance. It will be a little too strange for some people, but the rest will revel in the devilish details of the creative process. Martínez and Banderas seethe and banter with tremendous chemistry, but Cruz steals the show, once again proving to be one of the finest actors working today.

(Cinema release)

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