Un amor — Claqueta Ácida’s Acidic Review

Un amor: full review

The air conditioning in the theater blew like a blizzard from the Guadarrama mountains while the teenager in row three chewed popcorn with the delicacy of an elephant. The first shot, a static frame of the apartment’s creaking door, gave me the sensation of being about to enter a museum of everyday miseries. Isabel Coixet, a veteran of the Spanish scene, strikes again with Un amor, a piece that pretends to be a study of urban loneliness but, at its best, remains on the surface of a puddle of stagnant water. The film arrives in a context of overproduction of rental dramas, where the Spanish industry, fed by public funds like ICEC and the Institute of Cinematography, seeks profitability without risking aesthetics. I, who paid €9.50 and suffered two hours of gray luminescence, cannot help but feel that the return on investment is as scarce as the script’s empathy. Embarrassment. The second scene, at 12 minutes, shows Nat (Laia Costa) trying to open a window that refuses to yield, while the sound of the drip becomes a metronome of tension. Bet Rourich, the director of photography, employs a Bazinian depth of field that focuses the drop in the foreground, leaving the rest of the room in a haze that looks like a feverish dream. The framing is a homage to Truffaut’s mise-en-scène, but the color palette is so washed out that it looks like a low-budget digital color grading, a mignardise that does not convince. At minute 40, the landlord (Hugo Silva) lets out the phrase "This is a house, not a hotel," with such a forced intonation that the average audience will applaud with their ears; the cinephile will demand a lobotomy. Unsolvable. The script, also by Coixet, clings to the idea of obsession with inhabited space, but the rhythm becomes a succession of clumsy cuts, as if the editor had used a paper scissors to trim the film. On Reddit, users complain about the lack of coherence in continuity: the coffee cup that Nat holds in the balcony scene mysteriously disappears in the next shot, and the dog that the landlord gifts seems to change breed between frames. The soundtrack, nonexistent in the credits, is reduced to ellipses of ambient noise; the absence of original music is a decision that, although it intends to reinforce the emptiness, ends up being an excuse for a lack of resources. Laia Costa’s performance is, without a doubt, the highlight. Her empty gaze and her shortness of breath transmit an anguish that the script fails to articulate. Hovik Keuchkerian, as Andreas, brings a shadow of humanity that contrasts with the coldness of Hugo Silva. However, the rest of the cast remains on the periphery, like extras in a low-budget television set. The production, financed by eight entities, suffered bureaucratic delays that forced the cutting of key scenes, according to sources close to the shoot. Coixet confessed in an interview that the final cut was imposed by the executives of Movistar Plus, who feared that the film would be too slow for the streaming audience.

Direction and Staging

Coixet attempts an auteurist onanism that recalls her early works, but the lack of boldness turns her into an epigone of herself. The camera moves with deliberate slowness, as if each movement were a meditation on the emptiness of space. The use of a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, almost analogous to the classics of the 70s, intends to evoke nostalgia, but the result is a narrow screen that crushes the action. The scene of the confrontation in the kitchen, where Nat and the landlord argue about the repair of a pipe, is lit with a hard light that creates dramatic shadows, but the dialogue is so flat that the visual contrast becomes a mere decoration.

Performances and Script

Laia Costa carries the emotional load with a dignity that brushes against the aristocratic dignity I so admire. Her silent resistance to the landlord’s oppression is palpable, although the script forces her to repeat phrases that sound like a cheap mantra. Hugo Silva, for his part, plays the landlord with a smile that seems taken from an insurance advertising campaign, which generates an involuntary comic dissonance. The rest of the cast, including Violeta Rodríguez as Sofía, gets lost in dialogues that pretend to be deep but end up being mere self-help slogans.

Production Design and Sound

The apartment, a poor construction full of cracks and drips, is designed to be another character. The decorators used recycled materials, which adds authenticity, but the lack of a soundtrack composed by a recognized author leaves the atmosphere in an uncomfortable silence. The sound of the dripping pipe is amplified in the speakers, creating an irritation that, curiously, coincides with the irritation of the viewer who pays €9.50 for this experience.

The best

• Bet Rourich’s photography: Uses Bazinian depth of field to turn a drop into a protagonist.
• Laia Costa’s performance: A raw commitment that elevates the mediocre material.
• Production design: The deteriorated apartment works as a visual metaphor for the relationship.

The worst

• Repetitive script: Dialogues that feel like a self-help manual.
• Clumsy rhythm: Editing that cuts the tension instead of building it.
• Absence of soundtrack: The silence becomes a void that is not justified.

The Verdict of Claqueta Ácida

Un amor manages to be a piece worthy of a mention in Coixet’s filmography, but its ambition gets trapped in a labyrinth of bureaucracy and production decisions that turn it into a half-baked work. Laia Costa’s performance shines, but the rest of the ensemble dissolves in the mediocrity of a script that clings to clichés. In short, a film that pays its bills but does not conquer the heart of the demanding viewer. 💀

Un amor: frequently asked questions

What is the rating of "Un amor" on Claqueta Ácida?

"Un amor" scored 7/10 on Claqueta Ácida in the review by Odin Lagbert.

Is "Un amor" worth watching?

With reservations. We gave it 7/10 (Citric Acid), our rating for uneven films with something worth saving.

Who directed "Un amor"?

"Un amor" was directed by Isabel Coixet.

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Theater Collateral Damage Report

Psychophysical impact certificate issued by Odin Lagbert

⚡ Moderate Wear

🥱 Yawn-o-meter

2 amagos en el tramo intermedio; pestañeo pesado en transiciones.

⏱️ Panic Clock Checks

Minuto 48 y minuto 82 (comprobando cuánto quedaba de tortura).

😬 Cringe Index 0.9/10

☕ Caffeine Prescription

1 espresso doble bien cargado para no desmayarse.

💥 Derailment Point

"A mitad del segundo acto cuando intentaron justificar la subtrama innecesaria."

⚔️ Editorial Duel: Second Opinion Dante Sangre's score: 4.5/10

The rebuttal from Dante Sangre (Blockbuster Scalpel)

In stark disagreement with the review given by Odin Lagbert.

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Duelo editorial natural entre las visiones antagónicas de Odin Lagbert y el consejo de redacción. "Esto no es cine; es un informe de accionistas proyectado a 24 cuadros por segundo."