La casa de la Troya: A dusty, charming look at old-school student life

Is it worth it?

Honestly? Maybe. If you’re the type who likes slow-burn period pieces or has a soft spot for 1930s Spanish cinema, you’ll probably find something to love here. If you need a fast-paced thriller or modern editing, you’re going to be bored to tears within fifteen minutes. It’s a mood piece, not a rollercoaster.

There’s this scene about halfway through where the students are just milling about the boarding house, and it feels so unscripted that I wondered if the camera was even rolling. It’s a bit messy, sure, but it’s real. You can practically smell the stale tobacco and cheap coffee in the room.

The pacing is… well, let’s call it relaxed. Or maybe just indecisive. It reminded me a bit of the vibe in The Champ where things just sort of happen because they need to, not because they’re building toward a massive climax. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying to impress anyone, which is its biggest strength.

The student chaos

The boarding house setting is the real star here. It’s got that specific, cramped energy where everyone is yelling over each other and nobody is actually studying. It made me miss the days when being a student meant more about causing trouble than about career prospects. 🏫

The performances are perfectly fine for what they are. Paz Fuentes Collado has this look in her eyes during the ballroom scenes that says she’s already bored with the guy she’s talking to. It’s a tiny detail, but it stuck with me.

• The lighting in the hallway scenes is surprisingly moody.
• Some of the dialogue feels like it was written on a napkin five minutes before shooting.
• I’m still not entirely sure what the main guy’s actual goal is, and that’s kind of refreshing.

It’s not perfect. The film drags in places where it should have been cut, and the transition between scenes is sometimes jarring, like someone tripped over the editing machine. But it has this soul that you just don’t get in big studio stuff. It feels like a project made by people who actually enjoyed being on set.

If you watch this, don’t look for deep meaning. Just watch the way the actors walk around the frame, looking for their marks, looking slightly awkward. It’s human. It’s flawed. It’s a decent way to kill an hour if you’re tired of the loud, polished junk hitting theaters lately.