The midnight section of the Tribeca Film Festival is always a place for adventure. It’s one I escape to fondly and with open arms as it frequently allows for some interesting creative dives, and showcases genre-bending curiosities.
It also gives first-time directors such as Hugo Ruíz, the opportunity to present a bold vision, as with his film on this year’s slate: One Night With Adela. It’s got bravado in its positioning and angered temperament that will prove to be wholly divisive among viewers.
Set in Madrid in real time and edited as one shot, we ride with street sweeper Adela (Laura Galán) as she releases a vengeful pursuit of the city. She calls into a nightly radio show as Ariel, where she admits to the host that she intends to inflict pain, but how and why is yet to be seen.
Her motives or backstory aren’t clear in the beginning, but her rage is palpable. What culminates is a mix of drugs, violence, and sex that tests the viewer’s patience and constitution.
Laura Galán is fantastic. Coming off of another similarly paced, (but much clearer in its intentions) film, Piggy, the actress again commits and truly embodies Adela. She captivates as much as she infuriates but she never lets her command of the camera falter.
“A Human Wreck.”
The choice to film Adela as one long shot over the course of a whirlwind of a night is a stylistic choice that mostly pays off. Aesthetically, the movie strives to match the woe of our lead with the backdrop of a sullen and desperate city in the throes of late night.
There are some intriguing moments and clever vehicles for tension building such as a scene where the camera stays fixed on a television set while a nature show talks about cuckoo birds, and Adela moves around off-screen. Unsure of what she is up to, unease permeates.
Each encounter speaks a warning, and when a shocking reveal occurs it effectively lives in your stomach.
The final sequence becomes too much of a monologue and while it provides some insight that shows her actions aren’t random but premeditated, it removes some of the previous, slowly built agony that we join her for. It adds some distinction, but it doesn’t necessarily add a lot of depth. In a way, I preferred the uncertainty.
I felt conflicted throughout the movie, often wondering if I admired or admonished some of the choices. In the end, it was both. By no means a perfect film, laden with miscalculations, I couldn’t get Galán out of my mind. Something tells me that’s exactly what Adela would want.
An ambitious project and dizzying bewilderment of excess and impulsivity, One Night With Adela may not have an entirely winning hand, but it goes all in.
One Night With Adela premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
Wonderfully Weird & Horrifying 