Salve Maria is a 2024 Spanish drama film directed, co-written by Mar Coll starring Laura Weissmahr. Based on the novel Amek ez dute by Basque writer Katixa Agirre,[1] it follows Maria (Weissmahr), a promising young writer and new mother, who becomes obsessed by the case of a woman who drowned her twins in the bathtub.[2] The film competed for Golden Leopard in main competition of 77th Locarno Film Festival[3] and had its world premiere on 8 August 2024.[4] It is mostly shot in Catalan.[5]
Synopsis
Maria, a talented young author and new mother, comes across a disturbing headline: a French woman has drowned her 10-month-old twins in the bathtub. This horrifying event captures Maria's thoughts, turning into an all-consuming fixation. She grapples with the question: Why did the woman commit such an act? From then on, the shadow of infanticide hangs over Maria's existence, haunting her.
Salve Maria marks the return of Mar Coll to the cinema. Produced by Escándalo Films and Elastica Films with the support of ICEC and ICAA, and the participation of RTVE and Movistar Plus+.[7]
Mar Coll talking to Variety about the protagonist said, "María is a repentant mother, an association of words that generates automatic unease".[8]
The film will be released on 31 October 2024 in theatres by Elastica Films.[13]
Reception
Mariana Hristova reviewing the film at Locarno for Cineuropa indicated that while the script is skillfully written and effectively portrays the protagonist's intense emotions, the focus on symptoms rather than delving into the underlying reasons for the character's emotional breakdown feels superficial. The obvious pressures of personal time constraints and societal expectations related to motherhood are explored, but deeper analysis is lacking.[14]
Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily described Salve Maria as a film "whose concerns feel totally in tune with the times".[5]
Beatriz Martínez of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be a "dark, tremendously disturbing, suffocating work that talks about motherhood and postpartum depression in an unprecedented way".[15]
Philipp Engel of Cinemanía rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, declaring it "impeccable in its form".[16]
Carmela López Lobo of La Razón rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, highlighting "Laura Weissmahr's excellent work" and the "deeply unsettling" nature of the film as its best.[17]
Elsa Fernández-Santos of El País wrote that the chilling picture "confronts the viewer with the tragedy of a woman dragged into the repulsion of her own flesh".[18]
