“Girls” was populated with entitled, feckless, but ultimately fascinating female characters. “Arrested Development” followed a formerly wealthy family willfully ignoring just how much financial trouble they were in. If you put those two stories together, you’d get something approaching “El Planeta,” a weird and wonderful new film. The Spanish-language dark comedy traces a week in the life of mother and daughter Leonor and María, portrayed respectively by writer-director Amalia Ulman and her real-life mom, Ale Ulman. Leonor and María are out of money and on the brink of eviction — yet they don’t seem overly concerned about it.
Set in 2018 in Gijón, Spain, “El Planeta” is rife with economic anxiety, the kind that is such a part of the ether that it doesn’t even need to be commented upon. Leonor (who goes by Leo) and María rarely discuss their financial situation outright, but it permeates everything. Images of empty storefronts serve as interstitials; Leo considers trying sex work before finding out it isn’t as lucrative as she imagined; María charges all her purchases — clothes, groceries, dinners at fancy restaurants — to fake tabs.
Even so, for the bulk of the film, Leo and María mostly just go about their lives as if nothing is wrong. Dressed to the nines in fur coats and designer threads, they continue to go on lavish shopping trips and salon outings. Mother and daughter hang out, tease one another, and mourn their recently deceased cat. Leo starts up a flirtation with an expat, and María keeps up with the Princess of Asturias Awards news.
Leo and María’s blithe attitude is simultaneously insane and completely relatable. Given the state of the climate, democracy, human rights, the goddamn pandemic, we should all be in the midst of major panic 24/7. But we’re not. Because, even as the walls are closing in, we have to live our lives and find happiness where we can. As much as you’ll shake your head in frustration at the protagonists of “El Planeta,” I’ll bet you’ll also nod in rueful recognition.
“El Planeta” starts playing at the IFC Center in NYC tomorrow. It will open at Los Angeles’ Landmark Westwood on October 1, and expand nationwide and arrive on VOD October 8. Find screening info here.
