(Albert Serra, 2024, Spain/France/Portugal, 127 minutes)

Acclaimed French director Albert Serra (The Death of Louis XIV, Liberté, Pacifiction) has made his first documentary feature, Afternoons of Solitude, about famed modern matador Andrés Roca Rey. Told with verité leanings, and mostly taking place inside the ring with Rey and the bull (where you can hear the crowds in the arena, but not see them), Serra walks a fine line, letting viewers draw their own conclusions from this immersive environment. Zachary Barnes of the Wall Street Journal says, “Rarely have I seen a film that has combined the riveting and the repellent to such memorably strange effect.” Regardless your takeaways of the content at hand, Serra’s filmmaking prowess as displayed here is difficult to debate.

In Spanish with English subtitles.