The unexpected coming out of a gay grandfather

Subverting the narrative codes of cinema queer, which has historically struggled to illustrate difficult processes of liberation, Maspalomas It traces the painful path back to self-repression of an old man who, after two decades of enjoying his homosexuality (in the Canary Island town that gives the film its title), suffers a stroke and decides to come back into the closet when he is admitted to a nursing home in his native Basque Country. The exploration of the experience queer in old age – understood as a process of searching for identity – is not new to the screenwriter and director José Mari Goenaga, who in 2010 already addressed this theme in the film In 80 days, more focused on the female universe.

Now, Goenaga—accompanied by Aitor Arregi, from the Moriarti collective—returns to portray the struggle of an individual against a conservative society, breaking sexual taboos, but also reflecting on the entrenchment of prejudices and the transmission of fears in parent-child relationships. The result of this nuanced psychological and sociological study is a film that, eschewing great aesthetic flourishes, knows how to transition from light to darkness without falling into melodrama, respecting the dignity of its protagonist. Special mention should be made of veteran actor José Ramón Soroiz, an emblem of Basque theater and television who gives a delicate incarnation of primal desires, hidden terrors, and yearnings that refuse to give way.