Actor Ben Cura’s directorial debut “”, based on August Strindberg’s 1888 play, is a modern re-telling of Strindberg’s story of love, betrayal, revenge and psychological manipulation, a “sometimes angry and surprising film that brings with it strong performances from the entire cast”, “what a Terrence Malick film would look like in black and white”, “an intelligent thought-provoking film which questions gender roles, female sexuality and male anxieties” and “an incisive and accomplished piece of filmmaking […] possessing a rich, powerful psychology that instills an unnerving modern-day relevance to age-old material” - Grant Pierce arrives from London into Madrid, Spain, hoping to be given the chance to meet his favourite painter, American Freddie Lynch, who is currently staying at a private hotel in an unassuming location outside the city. As Grant steps into the main building of “El Madroño”, he finds Lynch a crippled man whom, he soon reveals, has been unable to actually paint for the better part of a year. As the two men get to know each other under the watchful eye of one of the owners of the hotel, Michael Redmane, they start to piece together the disturbing picture of Freddie’s marriage to beautiful writer Chloe Fleury, which harbours secrets that will reveal much more than Freddie’s recent creative emaciation, and his obsession with Chloe’s ex-husband.

Starring:

Christian McKay, Ben Cura, Andrea Deck

Genre:

Drama, Romance, Comedy