Calle Málaga

María Ángeles (Carmen Maura) is a fiercely independent senior living in the Spanish quarter of Tangier. When her daughter Clara (Marta Etura) arrives for a long-overdue visit, she comes with an agenda: to pressure María into selling the home — left in Clara’s name by her late father — to offset her own post-divorce financial struggles. But María, deeply embedded in her community and cherished by her neighbours, quietly resolves to stay.

Determined not to be displaced, she devises a resourceful plan to earn enough money to keep the apartment and buy back the cherished belongings her daughter hastily sold to an antique dealer in preparation for the sale of the property. In the process, María unexpectedly finds a romantic spark with someone she once viewed as an adversary.

Moroccan director Maryam Touzani’s third feature and Spanish-language debut, following the acclaimed The Blue Caftan (TIFF ’22), takes audiences on a surprising journey that is heartwarming, sensual, and gently humorous. Maura, a legend of Spanish cinema and frequent collaborator with Pedro Almodóvar, delivers a performance that is both affable and defiant. She leads a colourful ensemble of characters who find themselves enlisted in María’s quiet rebellion against the notion that parents, especially mothers, must continue sacrificing for their children. Calle Málaga is a moving reminder that growing older doesn’t mean giving up on passion, dreams, or dignity.

ROBYN CITIZEN