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Afternoons of Solitude

Afternoons of Solitude

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Summary

Explores the spiritual pain of bullfighting, the tormented torero in a ring, one of the most excessive and graphic examples of the origin of Southern European civilization

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Max Copeman

After making his name as an acclaimed director of "slow cinema" dramas, Catalan auteur Albert Serra (The Death of Louis XIV) turns his hand to documentary with this intimate and unblinking look at bullfighting and the life of matadors. Roving through Madrid, Seville, Bilbao and beyond, Serra's camera follows Peruvian star torero Andrés Roca Rey as he and his entourage tour the bullrings of Spain. Presented without narration, talking heads or any obvious moralising, this is a spare and sobering study of a tradition that endures in spite of its astonishing cruelty. It will naturally be a troubling watch for animal-lovers, as Roca Rey goads and kills the innocent bulls to baying crowds, with the help of sycophantic assistants. But Serra's subtle and intelligent direction of the material makes for an intoxicating character study that reveals a man of performative machismo and some spectacular contradictions. The film, like Roca Rey himself, hovers unforgettably between life and death, choreography and chaos, beauty and barbarism.

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7.1/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameAndrés Roca Rey, Andrés Roca Rey

Crew

rolenameDirectorAlbert Serra

Details

Theatrical distributor

MUBI

Released on

2026-06-05

Languages

Spanish

Guidance

scenes of animal slaughter

Formats

Colour

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