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Afternoons of Solitude

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Portrait of an active bullfighting star, Andrés Roca Rey, which allows us to reflect on the intimate experience of the bullfighter who assumes the risk of facing the bull as a personal duty out of respect for tradition and as an aesthetic challenge. This challenge creates a form of ephemeral beauty through the material and violent confrontation between human rationality and the brutality of the wild animal.
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Critics Reviews

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Robert Abele Los Angeles Times In its graceful intertwining of meditation and obscenity, “Afternoons of Solitude” gives an ancient, controversial tradition the chance to shock and awe without hype or favor. It’s inhumane, it’s human and it’s a hell of a film. Jul 21, 2025 Full Review Sergio Burstein Los Angeles Times It's a documentary about bullfighting that follows a specific bullfighter over 14 performances across Spain, and does just that, aside from showing him on the car rides that precede and follow his performances. [Full review in Spanish] Jul 21, 2025 Full Review David Ehrlich IndieWire The open-ended nature of Serra’s approach flies in the face of what people have been conditioned to expect from today’s non-fiction cinema, much of which exists to challenge the audience for their provincialism while flattering them for their empathy. Rated: B+ Jun 27, 2025 Full Review Anna Hoang Boston Hassle If we think of Tsai Ming-liang’s line of work as the soft, non-communicative end of slo-mo cinema, Serra’s at the other end where action speaks in strength and vigor. Rated: 4/5 Jul 12, 2025 Full Review Erik Reeds Spectrum Culture Serra’s distinct lack of overt criticism and mere presentation of contemporary bullfighting more or less succeeds in displaying the violence of the industry, even if it begins to run thin by the end of its runtime. Jul 1, 2025 Full Review Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews With his first documentary, writer/director Albert Serra ("Pacifiction") does the impossible by eliciting a modicum of understanding for a blood sport any animal lover must consider barbaric...a masterpiece of documentary filmmaking Rated: A Mar 22, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Scott L Very boring. It did not make me want to learn anything about this sport nor did it tell me anything about it. They could’ve just replayed the first 20 minutes of the movie 5 times and I would’ve been as clued up about the movie as when I left the cinema. By the end of the last killing of the Bull, I wish the dagger went in to my head and not the bull. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 07/21/25 Full Review Robin C “Afternoons of Solitude” Filmmaker Albert Serra makes his first foray into the documentary feature world and follows, over the course of days, superstar Spanish bullfighter Andres Roca Rey as he plies his deadly skills of grace in “Afternoons of Solitude.” I have never watched or cared to watch a Spanish bullfight. Something about torturing, stabbing with spears and darts and killing a poor dumb bull goes against every humane sensibility I have. But, that does not mean I cannot appreciate Albert Serra’s up close look at the art and spectacle of bullfighting. During the course of “Afternoons of Solitude,” we learn that there are six separate processes involved in the ultimate demise of the toro. It starts with the matador, here Andres, performing fancy capework to get the bull in motion. Then, the picadors, astride heavily padded and blindfolded horses, stab the bull repeatedly with spears to cause bleeding. More flashy capework and, then, the banderillas (short spears) are thrust into the wounds. Finally, the dangerous passes with the muleta and, finally the coup de mort by sword. All this for the entertainment of the masses, With all that described and said, Albert Serra creates a beautiful, horrific, gut-wrenching look into a barbaric sport that is akin and the reversal of the gladiator versus lion contests of ancient Rome. This time, the human is in control and the poor, dumb beast is destined to dies a gruesome and horrific death. This is truly an enigmatic documentary. On one hand, it is about unbridled cruelty to the bull. Sure, the matador risks life and limb in the close quarters with an angry and tormented 1200 pound animal with pointy horns. But, that danger is tempered by those assisting the bullfighter, in this case Andre, as they distract the bull when danger does arise. The odds are, of course, with the matador, Serra does not go with convention as he depicts the spectators sport without actually showing the spectators. His cameras are up close and personal with Andre and his victims – there are 14 corridas (fights) during the course of the film. His performance is a combination of theater and fearless daring as he taunts the bull, performs for the crowd, turning his back on an angry, badly bleeding animal to prove his courage, And it takes courage to do what he does, but what it does is plain animal cruelty. Thus the enigma of beauty and grace versus violence and death is a tough one for me. As a guy who loves movies of all shapes and sizes, I can recognize a master at work. The subject may not be for all viewers, but the structure of the film, the dedication of the toreador and his entourage, the beauty of the suit of lights (it does look like lights sparkling when in the bright sunshine) and Serra’s camera team make this both a fascinating and hard to watch documentary, It is, still, a masterpiece in filmmaking and, like it or not, I respect the auteur and his work. A Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/26/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Afternoons of Solitude

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Movie Info

Synopsis Portrait of an active bullfighting star, Andrés Roca Rey, which allows us to reflect on the intimate experience of the bullfighter who assumes the risk of facing the bull as a personal duty out of respect for tradition and as an aesthetic challenge. This challenge creates a form of ephemeral beauty through the material and violent confrontation between human rationality and the brutality of the wild animal.
Director
Albert Serra
Producer
Albert Serra, Montse Triola, Luis Ferrón, Pedro Palacios
Screenwriter
Albert Serra
Distributor
Grasshopper Film
Production Co
Tardes de Soledad, Andergraun Films, Lacima Producciones, Idéale Audiences, Rosa Filmes
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Spanish
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 27, 2025, Limited
Runtime
2h 5m