El Planeta (2021)
- Reviewed from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Playing a version of herself in the film (her mother Ale does the same), which is set in her hometown of Gijon in Spain, writer-director Amalia Ulman has a self-awareness of her art student style that keeps the audience on her side. The plot, which invites comparison to last year’s Sundance hit Kajillionaire, sees the mother and daughter living beyond their means, bedecked in Dior and Moschino while the bills are left unpaid.
Amalia Ulman’s aesthetic (both in terms of fashion and filmmaking) is enough to make this an intriguing first feature. The use of Powerpoint-style transitions is endearingly kooky, and Amalia’s deadpan delivery is utterly delicious, but it is Ale, the mother, who steals the show, channeling Grey Gardens’ Little Edie in her headband and housecoat in scenes of housebound flamboyance. The duo are a delight.