Divorce, an aggressive father, a tired and frustrated mother, and a confused daughter torn between the two… How many unknowns can really lie hidden within an all-too-common situation? Júlia de Paz Solvas once again proves her knack for extracting the singular from stories that seem everyday and banal, and for bringing to light a sensitivity to the silent catastrophe that cuts deeper than meets the eye. After portraying the relationship between an overwhelmed mother and her daughter in her debut feature, Ama [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], the young Catalonian director closely explores the bond between a teenage girl and her unstable, violent father, merging with the girl’s gaze, in The Good Daughter. For quite a while, the mother, in this almost incestuous set-up, remains the misunderstood, irritating intruder, whose warnings "daddy’s good girl" will scarcely heed, at least until she gets burned herself. The film has just world-premiered in competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

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Forgoing much preamble, the family situation is clear from the outset: Carmela (Kiara Arancibia) meets her father (Julián Villagrán) at a social mediation centre, as he is forbidden from approaching the mother (Janet Novás), apparently for reasons of domestic violence. For Carmela, these meetings are eagerly anticipated, as they re-establish the bond with half of her identity, someone beloved yet distant and somewhat inscrutable. The time she spends with him outside the centre resembles a toxic intimate relationship: he is extremely emotional and explosive, while she is elated, anxious and even jealous. Is this how girls end up growing into women who, for the rest of their lives, are drawn to charismatic, demonic and aggressive men, and never cease to suffer because of them?

Arancibia performs more from a standpoint of intuition than reason, which allows her to express the inexpressible through her eyes, facial expressions, gestures and bodily movements. Between her and Villagrán there is an undeniable chemistry, made more nuanced by the intensity of his paternal aura - a man who never truly understood fatherhood - which conjures a palpable sense of fatalism between them, fuelled by immaturity. Feeling insufficient on his own and feeding off his daughter like a vampire, his character manages to create an environment of mutual obsession before fading away and leaving wounds, but also, unconsciously, freeing up space for them to heal. Ultimately, The Good Daughter charts the chronicle of a separation, not between ex-spouses, but between daughter and father; at least severing the physical bond, allowing the daughter to move on to the next stage. The metaphysical, for better or for worse, never quite comes to an end.

The Good Daughter was produced by Spanish outfits Astra Pictures and Avalon, in co-production with Belgian company Krater Films. German sales agent Beta Cinema is handling the international sales.