Con la mejor intención
2023 · 26m · España
Directed by Daniel A. Sánchez
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, tender
Good-hearted Juan Miguel has dreamed since childhood of helping those in need, but today he is the one in serious economic difficulty, waiting for the day his luck changes so he can fulfil his dream.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise reads like well-meaning poverty-porn at first glance, but Sánchez seems aware enough of that trap to sit with the contradiction between Juan Miguel's generosity and his powerlessness — the film's actual subject isn't inspiration, it's the quiet rage of deferred aid.
A modest entry in the Latin American social realist tradition, executed with formal restraint; the contemplative pacing and tender tonal register recall a lineage from Reygadas to recent festival darlings, though it doesn't quite achieve the compositional or narrative density those precedents demand.
The film's entire weight rests on Sánchez's decision to withhold resolution and sentiment in equal measure — there's a particular cut or held glance late in the runtime where the character's internal contradiction suddenly crystallizes, and that single moment of restraint transforms a familiar scenario into something genuinely unsettling.