Set in the Catalan town of Alcarràs, the plot is a rural family drama concerning the disappearance of agricultural activities, revolving around the intention to install solar panels in an agricultural plot hitherto occupied by a peach orchard, bringing the members of the Solé family to a stand-off.[5][6][7]
The screenplay was written by director Carla Simón and Arnau Vilaró.[8] The film was produced by Avalon PC, Elastica Films, Vilaüt Films, Kino Produzioni, and TV3,[9][7] with the participation of TVE and Movistar+ and the support of ICAA, ICEC [ca], Creative Europe's MEDIA, Eurimages, MIBACT, and Diputació de Lleida [es].[10] Shooting began on 1 June 2021 in the area of Alcarràs, province of Lleida, with the shooting window constrained to summer due to the film's setting based on peach harvest cycles.[8][11] The cast is formed of non-professional actors from the province of Lleida.[6] Shot in Catalan, the entire cast used the local Western dialect (Lleidatà) of the Catalan language.[12][13] Filming wrapped after 8 weeks of shooting.[7] María Zamora, Stefan Schmitz, Tono Folguera, and Sergi Moreno are credited as producers.[9]
Release
Cast members during the presentation of the film at the Berlinale
The film was screened in the official competition of the 72nd Berlinale on 15 February 2022.[2][11] The film was also screened at the Málaga Festival on 19 March 2022.[14][15] Initially announced to run as part of the festival's official competition,[14] the festival and the film's producers agreed to screen the film out of competition instead.[16]
Co-distributed by Avalon DA and Elastica Films in Spain, the film was theatrically released on 29 April 2022.[14][17] Starting with a distribution to 169 theatres, the film was the most watched debut film in its opening weekend, and second film overall (first in Catalonia) after The Northman.[18] Distributed by Wonder Pictures, it opened in Italian theatres on 26 May 2022.[19] The film was selected for the 60th New York Film Festival's main slate.[20] By August 2022, the film had grossed around €2.2 million at the Spanish box office.[21] In December of that year, it was invited to the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival and was screened there on 17 December 2022.[22]
According to the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, Alcarràs has a 93% approval rating based on 59 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The critical consensus on the website reads: "While it may lack a narrative punch, Alcarràs captures this rural world and its heritage with a gripping sense of nostalgia for things forever gone."[23] On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film holds a score of 85 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, indicating “universal acclaim.”[24]
Reviewing the film for The Daily Telegraph, Tim Robey rated the film 5 out of 5 stars, saying that the film "manages a light, improvisatory mastery, an immaculate hold on tone, and a grave yet sunlit tableau of an ending, with each one of these faces turned in collective mourning, that I'll never forget".[25] Fionnuala Halligan of ScreenDaily wrote that Alcarràs constitutes a "profoundly authentic and moving contemplation of the fragility of family, and, again, childhood" and has "all the hallmarks of a very specific film with emotionally wide appeal, a thoughtful essay which can also rattle and hum".[9]
Guy Lodge of Variety wrote that Alcarràs confirmed "the strength and consistency of Simón's directorial voice" after Summer 1993, also writing that it "balances a bristling political conscience against its tenderly observed domestic drama".[26] Writing for Little White Lies, Caitlin Quinlan said that the film "strikes a deft balance between idyllic reminiscence and melancholy for a cherished place", while also "delivering a poignant tale about the impact of industrial development on agriculture".[27] Sergi Sánchez of Fotogramas wrote that Simón gets to "translate into images what many neorealist filmmakers pursued unceasingly," which is "truth, this time of a changing space and time, which appeals to the collective without losing the thread of the individual".[28]
