Director: Carlota Pereda

Stars: Laura Galán, Richard Holmes, Carmen Machi, Irene Ferreiro

Spanish director Pereda’s debut feature, based on her short of the same name, is a bold, wildly entertaining and constantly surprising melding of coming-of-age-picture, black comedy and bloody horror. Sara (Galán) is an overweight teen living in a small Spanish town. We first encounter her hiding in her parents’ butcher shop from the bitchy classmates who post abuse about her on social media. One day, when she is taking a dip in the local pool, two of the local mean girls – along with reluctant accomplice and apparent ex-friend of Sara, Claudia (Ferreiro) – steal Sara’s clothes. Making her way home in her bikini, she witnesses the same girls being brutally kidnapped by the sinister-looking man (Holmes) she had observed in the pool earlier. Taking pity on her, the man hands her a towel to cover herself up. Later, Sara is quizzed by the police, but keeps schtum as she ponders her options. Pereda deftly juggles the genres, while Galán is entirely convincing as the bratty protagonist, baffled by being in a position of influence and power for a change, and her transformation from victim to blood-encrusted avenging angel is wicked fun. The ending is as cathartic as it is outrageously gory.

David Willoughby

Follow David on Twitter @DWill_Crackfilm