25/08/2020 - El rey tuerto director’s second film is currently shooting in Navarre and stars Verónica Forqué, Santi Millán, Malena Alterio and Natalia Molina among other actors

The filming of Marc Crehuet’s Espejo espejo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] began the first days of August in Pamplona. The filmmaker made his debut in feature films four years ago with The One-eyed King [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which earned a Goya nomination in the Best New Director category. The cast included a number of renowned actors: Verónica Forqué, Santi Millán, Natalia de Molina, Malena Alterio, Carlos Areces, Toni Acosta, Carlos Bardem, Silvia Abascal, Antonio Resines, Loles León, Luis Bermejo and Marta Tomasa.

With Crehuet also as the scriptwriter, the film tells the story of the 50^th anniversary of Manie Cosmetics, all members of staff are excited and nervous. Alex, the marketing and communication director, knows that redundancies will be made and wants to show the new CEO that although he is almost 50 he is not too “old-school” and he is still a growing asset. He needed the security that his reflection  used to show, but the reflection has grown tired of flattering him. On top of this, Alex feels threatened by Paula, his assistant, who at twenty-five is earning the admiration from the CEO.

Paula is aware of the career opportunities opening up ahead of her, and her reflection, far more ambitious than herself, pushes her to overcoming hurdles along the way. Vicky, her sister, is the sales director and lately has been behaving in a strange way. We soon find out that this is because her reflection is actually a man pushing her to “come out”. Alberto, a chubby administrator in his forties, is head over heels in love with Paula and would like to propose, but his reflection, much more fearful, makes him feel insecure.

When employees enter and leave the office they always pass in front of Antonia, a kind and good-natured caretaker who, when alone in front of the mirror, finds that she sees a psychopath who wants to kill everyone. When Alex’s reflection decides to leave, so as to live its own life, thus leaving him alone in front of the mirror, a “reflection revolution” is triggered that will change the characters’ destiny.

“We are told that we have to fulfill ourselves, that we have to find ourselves but… which side of our personality do we have to find?, which of all our sides should prevail?” asks Marc Crehuet about the film’s main topic. “I wish to show that inner conflict through the relationship of four people with their own reflections. I want the cinemagoer to have fun witnessing the arguments that characters have with themselves and which lead to act one way or the other. Ultimately our acts define us, but prior to taking any decision one part of us needs to prevail over the other. And that is precisely what I find interesting and funny: the inner conflict preceding acts and emphasizing our flaws. We live in a society prone to doing without contradictions, to polarizing things, and I think it is important to advocate for the grey colour, for the vagueness that defines us”, says the filmmaker.

Espejo espejo is a production of Rodar y Rodar and Nos gusta el cine A.I.E, with the support from RTVE, TV3 and Netflix. Filmax will be in charge of its distribution across Spain.

(Translated from Spanish by Marcos Randulfe)