Esperanza
2021 · 4m · España
Directed by Anthony Nieto, José Antonio Fernández
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
Two young protagonists who refuse to give up on their dreams amid Spain's Covid-19 losses, stress and anxiety hold onto hope, guided by the advice of their best friend, an aspiring athlete who died of the disease.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The ghost-guide premise should be maudlin grief-porn, but Nieto and Fernández refuse to sentimentalize it—they let the dead friend be exactly as present and pragmatic as he was alive, which is the opposite move most filmmakers would make.
A formally composed meditation on loss that locates itself squarely in the Spanish neorealist tradition, where intimate human dignity survives systemic devastation; the restraint here is the craft—nothing decorative, every frame earned.
The decision to keep the deceased friend's voice and counsel matter-of-fact rather than haunting transforms what could've been mawkish into something bracingly alive—four minutes of Covid elegy that works because they trusted their sound design to do the emotional heavy lifting without sentiment.