Mano a mano
2013 · 7m · España
Directed by Ignacio Tatay
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic
A young woman overwhelmed by the desire to kiss a complete stranger on a bus must take drastic measures to fix an apparent mistake, under the watchful eyes of the other passengers.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A premise that shouldn't work—romantic comedy built on sexual coercion played for laughs—somehow becomes this delirious, uncomfortable masterpiece precisely because Tatay leans into the absurdity rather than winking it away; the kind of film that makes you squirm and laugh at yourself for laughing.
Tatay's control of tone and visual rhythm within the bus constraint shows real sophistication, though the film's refusal to resolve its ethical core—whether we're laughing with or at this woman's compulsion—leaves it more provocative than formally resolved.
The entire film hinges on the decision to keep the camera locked on the other passengers' reactions rather than cutting to the protagonist's internal state; that single structural choice transforms it from a gag into genuine social comedy.