Drawing upon material compiled over many years, prolific Spanish actor Gustavo Salmerón’s feature directorial debut is a winsome, freewheeling family portrait. The fundamental dynamics of the Salmerón clan will resonate, while their eccentricities — most especially those of its larger-than-life matriarch Julita — will astonish and delight.

As a newlywed, Julita made three wishes: she wanted lots of kids, a monkey, and a castle. Julita got them all. The six children arrived in quick succession, the monkey was acquired from an advertisement, and the castle was purchased with a windfall inheritance. That castle, over time, comes to house an unruly labyrinth of bizarre bric-a-brac. Despite her children’s pleas, Julita refuses to part with any of it — until dwindling finances force the Salmeróns to move to a more modest abode.

Basking in Julita’s inexhaustible playfulness, Salmerón has created a boisterous, hilarious, profoundly affectionate film that penetrates the core of what it means to hold on to a sense of wonder.

2018 GOYA AWARD WINNER – BEST DOCUMENTARY