Las Tres Gracias: A dusty, quiet look at old-school drama

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much patience you have for movies that take their sweet time getting anywhere. If you enjoy the atmosphere of old European cinema, you’ll probably find something to dig into here. But if you’re looking for a plot that moves faster than a snail in winter, you will absolutely hate this.

There’s a specific kind of stillness in Las tres gracias. It reminds me a bit of the dusty, earnest tone you find in Romantic Argentina, though they aren't the same beast at all. Everything feels a little fragile, like the actors are worried they might break the set if they raise their voices too high.

Small moments that stick

• There is a shot of a tea cup being placed on a table that lasts about three seconds too long. It’s weirdly hypnotic.
• The lighting in the hallway scenes looks like they were trying to hide the fact that the wallpaper was peeling. It works, actually.
• I kept waiting for someone to trip over a rug, but they all glide around like they're on ice skates.

Eloy Vilches does a lot with very little, mostly just by looking out of windows. I think I counted him staring at a garden four separate times in the first half hour. It’s not exactly thrilling, but it feels lived-in. It reminded me of how people carry themselves in The Marked Woman, just with way less grit and a lot more lace.

There's this one scene—I think it's somewhere in the middle—where the dialogue just stops. Nobody talks. They just sit there. It feels like the movie forgot it had a script for a second. I didn't mind it. It’s better than the forced banter you see in something like Seeing Stars.

The pacing is a total mess, if we're being honest. It lurches forward and then dies for ten minutes while someone walks up a staircase. If you watch this with a group, someone is going to start checking their phone by the second act. Don't let them ruin the vibe. It’s not meant to be a page-turner.

I left the screen feeling like I’d just finished a long, slightly boring conversation with an elderly relative. It wasn't life-changing, but it felt real. Sometimes that's enough, right? 🕰️