Unequal parts contemporary dance-musical and ensemble drama, They Will Be Dust reaches for the raw emotional core of humanity in all its inherent messiness.
In his latest feature, Carlos Marqués-Marcet, whose 2014 film 10.000 KM won the Goya for best new director, treats the audience to a unique, daring, and rewarding look at our unavoidable death. When Claudia (Ángela Molina) decides she doesn’t want to passively wait for her illness to take away all of her agency, her longtime partner Flavio (Alfredo Castro) sets in motion their plan to end their lives together in Switzerland. Unequal parts contemporary dance-musical and taut ensemble drama with a theatrical — at times almost comical — intensity, They Will Be Dust reaches for the raw emotional core of humanity in all its inherent messiness.
The couple are so consumed by the prospect they’re facing that they somewhat forget about everyone else. Their loving daughter Violeta, who becomes the involuntary mediator between them and everything they leave behind, struggles to find her place in their story. And the rest of the adult siblings scramble to make space for the new realities when they arrive from afar startled and confused to join in the hasty wedding their elders wish to throw for themselves.
Credit goes to Marqués-Marcet for finding the right people for his bold, fresh take on such daunting material. Molina and Castro are at the top of their game dealing with visceral fear, passion, and tenderness, while finding strength in the most vulnerable moments to inscribe their tale in the canon of cinema that deals with challenging, transcendental truths.
DIANA CADAVID
Content advisory: themes of suicide; mature themes
Screenings
TIFF Lightbox 6
Scotiabank 7
TIFF Lightbox 2
TIFF Lightbox 4
Scotiabank 8
Scotiabank 9