A young orphaned woman journeys to her ancestral home in Spain seeking answers about her deceased parents in this poignant coming-of-age drama about family, fate, falsehoods, memories, misinformation, deceit, shame—and the sea.
In the opening scene, as Marina (Llúcia Garcia) arrives on a boat from Barcelona, on Spain’s opposite side, she tells us—in a narrative voice-over—about the temperament of the ocean and how it can be “calm and peaceful” or “wild and choppy.”
She finds a bit of both of those conditions as she connects with long-estranged aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. She’s trying to uncover her roots to find out why, on her father’s death certificate, she’s not listed as a descendant. And that lack of documentation makes her feel rootless and restless, and also prevents her from getting financial assistance at a university.
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Marina’s quest was sparked by reading her late mother’s journals. But there are still some missing pieces of the story. What made her mother and father die so young? Why did they never come visit her as a child, after she had relocated, across the country with an adopted family? Why do her younger cousins tell her they’ve been warned to stay away from her if she starts bleeding? What about the mysterious attraction to her hunky cousin, Nuno (Mitch Martin)?
Her icy, detached grandmother (Marina Troncoso) is obsessed with dying, and with keeping her swimming pool clean of debris; she lays down a stern warning for her grandchildren to shower before jumping in. But when it comes to family, things sometimes get messy, just like outdoor swimming pools.
The Spanish word romeria means a pilgrimage, a sacred journey, and that certainly applies to Marina’s quest as she treks into her past to retrace—and reclaim—her bloodline. The film reminds us that she’s on hallowed ground with several scenes that feature religious iconography, including a worship service in the bay on Ria de Vigo, an estuary in the Spanish oceanside community of Galicia.
Estuaries are where freshwater from mountains and streams meets saltwater in the oceans, creating thriving biosystems. In much the same way, Marina is an outsider from afar, now come to “mix” and meet with her family, itself a teeming ecosystem of history, traditions, relations—and secrets. Her cousins also tell her that for the last few years of his life, her father was “hidden” away by his parents in their home. An uncle discloses tales of drugs, needles and wild bacchanalia partying. “What didn’t they do?” he tells Marina about her mother and father. “Love and drugs aren’t a good thing.”
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Director draws on her own life
The film is richly autobiographical for acclaimed director Carla Simón, who lost both her parents when she was just a child, just as Marina did, and under the same circumstances. And Marina carries around a movie camera, filming everything, declaring that she wants to study cinema at college—just like the director really did. At one point, Marina even tells a boating companion who tries to snatch her camera, “I’ll film, you sail!”
The movie’s real discovery is Llúcia Garcia as Marina. This is her first movie, but she’s a natural, perfect in the role of a girl on the cusp of womanhood and discovery, finding out who she is and how she got there. Her smallest gestures—a bashful smile, a suppressed shock—convey the surface ripples on the choppy waters Marina is navigating. It’s no surprise she’s already received a Goya Award, Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars, for Top Newcomer.
In the film’s third act, Marina leaves a local celebration to follow an alley cat down a darkened street, leading her into a surreal extended flashback in which she gets to “see” her parents before she was born, her father as a sailor, her mom a languid party girl. (In an inventive twist, shaded by subtle differences in appearance and composure, Garcia also plays Marina's mom.) Marina finds her mom’s secret journal, one she was never supposed to read, and we discover, along with her, the connective cycle of past and present, shedding new light onto things we’ve seen and heard previously.
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And finally, Marina admits, "I really like the sea here."
Don’t be put off by the Spanish subtitles. This sweet, finely nuanced dive down into the murky past is a trip well worth taking as young Marina embraces her roots, gets her answers and sets sail in a new, steadier and more hopeful direction.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A finely crafted dive into the past as it seeps into the present
Rating: Unrated
When: In select theaters Friday, June 26; wide release later
Streaming: Expected to arrive on streaming services in 45 to 60 days.
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