This is the first fiction film by Goya nominee for best documentary in 2022, Alexis Morante, (Heroes: Silence and Rock and Roll). The film is based on the novel of the same name by Miguel Ángel González, it is a family story that mixes fantastic elements with the childish perspective of a child plagued by dreams. The year is 1985, Oliver (Rubén Fulgencio) , a boy with an overflowing imagination, moves with his parents (Salva Reina, Maria León) to the southernmost corner of Europe, just as Halley's Comet is about to pass by. And this change in his life will mark him for ever and ever. And some unimaginable events will mark a before and after in Oliver's emotional life, as he will look to the stars for the solution to his problems at the new school, in the neighborhood and at home. To top it off, his grandfather (Pedro Casablanc) , nicknamed "the crazy one", is encouraged to help him interpret the comet's message and take a step forward in his new universe.
The child protagonist who has a fantastic imagination is Rubén Fulgencio, giving an acceptable acting. He was chosen after a long casting process in which hundreds of children participated. It is set in Algeciras in the 80s in a conflictive neighborhood where Oliver, a child with an overflowing imagination, has just moved. Unlike all children his age, Oliver is passionate about stars and, specifically, Halley's Comet, which is about to pass by his eyes. Maria León (¨Cuerpo de élite¨, ¨La Voz dormida¨), Salva Reina (¨Con quién viajas¨, ¨Alli Abajo¨) and Pedro Casablanc (¨Libertad¨, ¨La Jefa¨) are the co-protagonists of this inspiring film about a child who must learn that life has good and bad things, a a child who daydreams, a child who gives importance to those aspects that adults have long considered anecdotal.
The film pays a nostalgic tribute to the cinema of the eighties, to films like "Stand By Me". ¨Back to the Future¨, ¨E. T.¨ to the ¨quinqui¨ subgenre and to the films of Alberto Rodriguez.
This is about the misfortunes of a family and a father who suffers a long unemployment, and pursued by 'el cobrador del Frac', but it also deals with esotericisms, with spatial fantasies, with turns to the myth that has always involved the theme of Halley's comet, which visits us every 75 years like clockwork. There will also be room for interracial conflicts, between payos and gypsies (played by real gypsies), or what is the same, between the poor and the very poor. There will also be a place for the topic of drug trafficking, a permanent scourge of the area and some other topics, all touched upon as if in passing, in a film that does not fully focus or know for sure what exactly it intends.
The story is decent enough but it is a slow-moving and overlong film that turns out to be somewhat heavy and boring. And the music by Julio de la Rosa, although sensitive, can be very intrusive, repetitive and overwhelming. He is a director and producer, an expert in documentaries, being especially known for Camarón: Flamenco y Revolución (2018), Bla Bla Bla (2015) and Voltereta (2010). Rating: 5.5/10. Acceptable and passable.
