A shoe-shine boy in fascist Spain stumbles into a criminal family — and can't shine his way out.
Spain, 1944, a country in turmoil, times are hard. Almost bankrupted by his late father's gambling debts, Ricardo, is forced to scrape a living as a shoe-shine boy, in order to care for his recently widowed sister and to keep them in their family home.
Acting
Francisco Vera's quietly desperate everyman transformation
Production
Evocative 1944 Spain — oppression felt in every frame
Director
Jaime Falero
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Jaime Falero shot this on a shoestring budget, using actual 1940s locations in rural Spain that still bear Franco-era decay.
The film deliberately echoes Hollywood noir but substitutes American dream desperation with Spain's post-Civil War 'years of hunger' — criminal networks often replaced collapsed state services.
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