It's about how the perfect life of a strict and tough rhythmic gymnastics teacher of competition begins to escape out of her hands. Caída Libre", is an Universal Pictures film starring Belén Rueda and produced by J. A Bayona, it burst into sixth place with a box office take of 124,748 euros. Marisol (Belén Rueda) is a domineering, suffocating, manipulative and very demanding woman. She always has everything under control. In her work as coach of the Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team, she is methodical and extremely demanding, where perfection and being the first is the only thing that counts. Marisol tyrannically and cruelly trains the young rhythmic gymnast Angelica (Mariia Netavrovana). Her whole life is continuously regulated and in her personal life she is obsessed with every detail, even the relationship with her husband (Ilay Kurelovic). But when things start to go wrong, her self-destruction explodes. Marisol knows she is failing and that is something she cannot allow. How far can someone like that go?
A fluid and very luxurious visual style movie, and a story of personal rediscovery of a woman who must break down to rebuild herself and find out who she is. JA Bayona produces this uncomfortable and tense dramatic thriller influenced by films such as ¨Tar¨, ¨Whiplash¨ or ¨Black Swan¨ in which Belén Rueda as the absolute protagonist develops tour-of-force acting. She gives a good performance as a perfectionist, tyrant, narcissistic woman who hides, under this facade, a great insecurity. The actress continues to prove herself to be one of the best performers in our country with each film -although quite aged, she is almost sixty years old- , capable of an impressive versatility in which she knows how to give life to each character with elegance and a lot of talent. Without her, surely, Caída libre (Freen falling, international title) would not be the film that it is and it would not work, because to believe the story we need to believe Marisol, and to believe Marisol we need Belén Rueda, for everything that the character contains, for her many edges. Because she is a character who is unsympathetic because of how she treats others, but who hides an insecurity that leads her to a pathos with which we all empathize. Belén is an actress expert on mystery and terror films , such as : Julia's eyes , The orphanage , No dormirás , Durante la tormenta , El cuaderno de Sara, el Pacto, Orbita 9 , and The body . Resulting to be an adequate and decent movie , but inferior than other Belén Rueda's mysterious films .The cast is completed by Mariia Netavrovana as the Ukrainian gymnast who is subjected to continuous abuse, Irene Escolar as an even more sensitive and intelligent coach, Ilay Kurelovic as the bored hubby, Brays Efe as a nurse, and Manuela Vellés as the hubby's lover who causes our protagonist to have a deep nervous breakdown when she finds out about her husband's adultery.
In her second feature film, filmmaker Laura Jou explores the limits of a peculiar character as extreme, abusive and with as many edges as Marisol, a woman full of dark internal struggles who after building her world to measure now collapses resulting in fateful consequences. It features careful and colorful photography from cameraman Marc Gómez del Moral , as well as thrilling and sensitive musical score by composer Clara Peya. A sufficiently enjoyable film as a whole, even if the script is not well-rounded and has a disappointing ending. The director Laura Jou is an actress and acting coach. Laura is protégé of J. A. Bayona and she had previously directed a single film: Life Without Sara Amat , as well as shorts and episodes of TV series: Cucut and Fácil. Rating Free falling: 6/10. The film will appeal to Belén Rueda fans.
