| With a fire burning in the background, Firebreak tells a story about assisted dying and a grieving family driven to extreme measures in search of a missing girl and answers. It’s an odd, strangely compelling movie, but it’s original, very well produced and photographed and very well acted. This Spanish movie is so universal in its approach and story, it should have no problem finding a global audience. | | 2026
Directed by: David Victori
Screenplay by: Javier Echániz, Asier Guerricaechebarria, Jon Iriarte
Starring: Belen Cuesta, Enric Auquer
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Mara (Belen Cuesta) has just lost her husband and is selling their home. Her brother-in-law and sister-in-law arrive to help her and her 8-year-old daughter Lida pack up. Meanwhile a fire has started in the forest around their remote house. Mara, through her grief, is stubborn and frustrated, she just wants to get out that house and find a way to move on. Lide thinks now would be a great time to go wild mushroom hunting in the woods. Lide is not ready to say goodbye to her deceased father or move on.
It’s now time to leave, Lide has vanished into the woods, an evacuation order has been announced, and their kind, alternative, naturalist neighbour who was the last one to see Lide is offering the police and the family his assistance as the search for the missing girl begins.
The film with a strong score, presents a very mysterious and creepy atmosphere. Tensions are running high given an 8-year-old girl’s life is at stake, but when the police give up, the family turns their eyes on neighbour Santi (Enric Auquer) who knows more than he initially led on. All evidence is pointing towards him, but their grief is causing Mara and brother-in-law Luis to not understand Santi’s actual role.
It gets violent and tense, but underneath all the smoke, it ultimately tells a simple story about the extremes family goes through to honour and protect loved ones. Love can blur logic, and then grief can blur morals. There of course so many fitting metaphors with the fire that gets closer and stronger with each passing minute, that the strength of the screenplay gets more pronounced as the movie goes on.
Firebreak is a well made movie that touches on some moral quandaries as it tells a very universal tale of love and loss set in the midst of a forest fire. As both a drama and a thriller, audiences will need to be prepared for both genres. It’s too meditative to be a pure thriller, but it’s also too explosive and tense to be a pure drama.
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