Padres (Spanish)

Between the direction, the acting, and the overall presentation, watching this movie felt like sitting through a Spanish soap opera. The pacing is consistently off; much like a typical soap, the buildup drags on far longer than necessary, only to rush toward the payoff. The final act then speeds through the conclusion with several half baked speeches and a crowd of smiling faces, resulting in a really underwhelming ending. To be fair, the film does explore some important themes worth talking about, serving as a decent reminder of how much family really matters and how damaging prejudice can be.

After four years together, gay couple David and Bruno attempt to conceive a child. To make this happen, David’s twin sister Virginia provides her egg to be used with Bruno’s sperm and a surrogate. This decision infuriates her husband, Miguel, sparking significant tension throughout the family. When no pregnancy is detected after a month, everyone assumes the attempt failed, only to discover a month later that the surrogate is indeed pregnant. Because of Miguel’s initial intense reaction, Virginia chooses to hide the news from him completely. The baby is born nine months later to an overjoyed grandmother, yet somehow, impossibly, Miguel remains in the dark about the situation. Virginia and their mother both assist in raising the child until a tragic accident claims the lives of both Virginia and Bruno. It is at the hospital that Miguel discovers Virginia’s secret, leading him to completely cut off his brother-in-law. A few years pass and the baby has become a young child. David is now struggling to manage work while raising the boy alone, all while facing tightening finances. Seeking to secure the child’s rightful inheritance, he approaches Bruno’s mother. Having always opposed David and Bruno’s relationship, she files for custody once she realizes the boy is truly Bruno’s son. This conflict prompts Miguel to step back into the picture; seeing David’s dedication to the family and his struggle to raise his son correctly, Miguel intervenes, and David wins the custody case. Ultimately, everyone reconciles to help raise the kid, who is surrounded by grandparents, aunts, and cousins, as well as three father figures: Bruno, David, and Miguel.

The acting is wildly overacted across the entire cast, with no one able to deliver a convincing cry. Reactions are so over the top they feel almost comical, reminiscent of a soap opera—Bruno’s mother deserves a specific mention for this. Whether the emotion is anger, jealousy, or love, everything is played big and loud. Between the dramatic showdowns between feuding family members, the over the top plot twists, and the staged interventions that always conveniently reunite the whole family by the end, I actually wondered at one point if I was watching a chopped up version of a Spanish telenovela rather than a feature film. While the characters lack much real depth, the movie does touch on themes like single dads raising kids on their own and a woman’s right to choose. On the production side, it is high end, featuring flawless wardrobe and gorgeous houses and huge mansions. Bruno, David, and even Miguel are all attractive guys in their late thirties who are total husband material, whether you’re straight or gay. As for side characters like David’s mom or Miguel’s dad, the less said about them, the better. This is a clear example of a film where the execution completely falls apart, even when its heart is in the right place. (4/10)