Director
Pablo Berger
(BLANCANIEVES)

Stars
Maribel Verdú, Antonio de la Torre, José Mota and Priscilla Delgado

When viewing the trailer and reading the synopsis of this Spanish fantasy-comedy, a light-hearted and crowd-pleasing showing is on the cards. Soon after those cards are flipped, a few less promising numbers appear. It’s permissible to overlook these blemishes from the deck for there are several other options available that if picked, will surely lead to a stronger hand. But no, each new turn that is had lessens the overall worth before your eyes, until one final curse of fortune ends it all.

Don’t be fooled into taking a gamble with ABRACADABRA, for if you do, it will leave you feeling as perplexed and deliberately misled as a Spanish bull charging towards a red flag that turns rainbow!

Neglected housewife, Carmen (Maribel Verdú fromBLANCANIEVES), and her misogynistic, soccer-fanatic husband Carlos (Antonio de la Torre fromTHE LAST CIRCUSand Pedro Almodovar’sVOLVER) attend the wedding of her cousin together with their teenage daughter, Toñi (Priscilla Delgado from another excellent Pedro Almodovar film,JULIETA), who’s addicted to her phone. During the celebrations, an apprentice magician, Pepe (José Mota) hypnotises Carlos, who returns home as a completely different man. Driven by curiosity for separate reasons, Carmen and Pepe team up to discover the spiritual being that has embodied her husband. 

Though in possession of an abundance of improbabilities and absurdities, ABRACADABRA is fairly easy to enjoy during most of its opening half, courtesy of its decidedly mirthful tone and appealing comedic premise. As its improbabilities begin to turn nonsensical and some unusual behaviour creeps its way in, the joyful facade of this film soon fades away. A random and bizarre series of events grow further in their frequency and at this point it is evident that this misguided comedy is not only exhibiting a dreadful lack of direction but is also (probably inadvertently) having a failed crack at the same type of surreal humour that Swedish art film,THE SQUARE is fondly remembered for. The entertainment to be derived from the second half of ABRACADABRA vanishes just as rapidly and inexplicably as Carlos’s (unappealing but true) personality. Ending all hope of a final act improvement is the horribly out-of-place decision to give the film a macabre mood swing. Audiences are left in genre-limbo as writer and director Pablo Berger illustrates just how out of touch he is with the crowd he is aiming to attract.

ABRACADABRA is anything but magical.

1 ½ stars

Don’t let this uneven mess allow you to avoid this year’s Spanish Film Festival though! There are many appealing films on offer for all tastes, including the female-driven musical comedy THE TRIBE, gripping mystery MIST & THE MAIDEN and even a special screening of Guillermo del Toro’s superb film, PAN’S LABYRINTH.

Full details including dates and the program are available right here:
SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL.

Viewer Discretion
M (Mature themes, violence and coarse language)

Trailer
ABRACADABRA

Moviedoc thanks Asha Holmes Publicity, The Spanish Film Festival and Palace Cinemas for the invite to the screening of this film

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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