Our take
When a regime falls, what follows isn’t a clean slate– it lingers, and it haunts those that were able to survive, part due to what was done to them and part to what they have done. Marshland ostensibly is a police procedural investigating a series of women murdered in rural Spain, but it’s also a clash of ideologies between New Spain, that wants to unearth the injustices that haven’t been acknowledged, and Old Spain, that wants to let sleeping dogs lie. The two plot threads don’t weave together as neatly as it could be, but La Isla Minima still works on both fronts, recreating that feeling of betrayal within that key transition period of Spain.
What it won
European Film Awards
1 win
Goya Awards
10 wins · 6 noms
The story
The Spanish Deep South, 1980. A series of brutal murders of adolescent girls in a remote and forgotten town bring together two disparate characters – both detectives in the homicide division – to investigate the cases.
Elsewhere
"A couple of mismatched cops in the immediate post-Franco era investigate the brutal murders of two teenage girls in Alberto Rodriguez's satisfyingly atmospheric neo-noir."
— Jay Weissberg
Spain, 1980s. After criticizing a Spanish general for his actions under the Francoist dictatorship, detective Pedro is assigned a double homicide case in a backwater town on the Guadalquivir Marshes with Juan as his case partner, leading to a hunt for a serial killer in the swampland.
The Guadalquivir Marshes. Most people outside the country might have seen Madrid and Barcelona on film, but it’s nice to see the rural side of Spain.
It’s not True Detective or Memories of a Murder, but it’s a must watch for fans of detective murder mysteries.
The details
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
