A patient is released from a mental hospital to help the police find a student who disappeared a few days ago.
Acting
Sacristán's twitchy, unreliable protagonist
Production
Gritty Barcelona locations, institutional decay
Director
Cayetano Del Real
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Cayetano Del Real directed only three features; this remains his most widely discussed, though still obscure outside Spain.
Shot during Spain's post-Franco 'Transition,' the film's rotting institutions mirror national unease with exposed state brutality.