A small town in Spain, October 1955. Isabel, a 35-year-old dreamer who feels like a failure because she is not married yet, becomes the new target of a group of soulless pranksters.
Acting
Betsy Blair's devastating stillness as Isabel.
Direction
Bardem's suffocating frame traps you in the town.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes politeness.

Director
Juan Antonio Bardem
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bardem was a Communist in Franco's Spain; this film smuggles anti-fascist critique through gender politics. The town IS the regime.
Betsy Blair was blacklisted in Hollywood; her exile to European cinema produced this, her most brutal role. Art imitated life.