Dad, I want to be a cloistered nun

I am writing these lines the day after it was made public the cover of Rosalía's new albumwhere she appears dressed in what looks like a nun's habit. The coincidence of this possible shift towards spirituality with the premiere of Alauda Ruiz de Azúa's third and remarkable feature film is curious (Five little wolves), winner of the Golden Shell at San Sebastián. Ainara, a teenager (Blanca Soroa, a true revelation), tells her well-to-do family that she wants to become a cloistered nun. Tensions flare and opposing viewpoints clash: on one side is the widowed father, unable to care for his three daughters; on the other, the aunt (Patricia López Arnaiz, a whirlwind), who, by stubbornly trying to change her niece's mind, ends up undermining her initial role as the voice of reason.

Ruiz de Azúa's strategy is to give each perspective space to explain its reasons, a decision that may unsettle those expecting a scathing critique of religious institutions and their proselytizing practices. For those who can read between the lines, the critique is there, but the filmmaker doesn't shy away from portraying the protagonist's faith as a feeling so real and powerful that it challenges the familial and social order that surrounds her. It's a bold decision, one that leads to a moving scene of epiphany, but it proves somewhat problematic by turning religion into a kind of counter-hegemonic force, an alternative for young people like Ainara (and Rosalía?), for whom disappointing material reality is no longer enough.