El niño de las coles: A Cabbage-Patch Time Capsule

Is it worth the watch?

Honestly? Probably not, unless you’re a real completist for Spanish cinema from this specific era. If you enjoy quiet, rural dramas that feel like they were filmed in a neighbor's backyard, you might find a bit of charm here. If you need pacing, excitement, or a plot that doesn't feel like it’s taking a nap, you are going to hate this.

It’s very, very slow. Sometimes it’s so quiet you start hearing your own radiator clicking in the background.

Notes from the couch

The whole thing feels like a stage play that got lost on its way to the theater. The lighting is… well, let's just say it relies heavily on natural light and a prayer. Maruja Carrizo spends a lot of time looking worriedly into the distance. It’s almost hypnotic if you don’t think too hard about what she’s actually looking at.

There’s this one sequence involving a cabbage patch that goes on for literal minutes. I’m not joking. You watch the characters walk between rows, stop, look at the ground, and walk some more. It’s a bold choice, I guess? It’s not exactly the high-stakes tension you’d find in The Sea Wolf, that’s for sure.

• The dialogue is remarkably sparse.
• The costumes look like they were pulled from a dusty trunk in the attic.
• I think I saw a chicken wander into the background of a serious scene and nobody bothered to cut.

The vibe

It’s not a bad movie, just a very specific one. It feels less like a narrative and more like a collection of moments caught on celluloid. Sometimes a character just stands there. You wait for a line. Nothing happens. They just keep standing there. It’s weirdly comforting in a world where everything has to be urgent and explosive.

It reminds me a little bit of the mood in El otro, where the atmosphere does way more heavy lifting than the script ever does. You aren't watching for the twist. You're watching to see if the kid actually does anything with the cabbages.

Spoiler: He mostly just stands near them. 🥬

Anyway, I finished it. I don’t know if I’d watch it twice. It’s one of those things you check off a list just to say you did it. Or maybe you just leave it playing in the background while you fold laundry. It’s perfect for that.