One Night with Adela

Go on a relentless rampage of revenge by spending One Night with Adela. Hugo Ruiz’s audacious feature film debut marries concepts of religion and sin with childhood trauma in this brutal family drama. Starring Laura Galán (from 2022’s Piggy) as Adela, a disturbed street sweeper in Madrid, who savagely enacts retribution for an incident from her youth over the course of one night. Although not everyone is to blame for her miserable life, a cocktail of drugs, sex, and deep-seated fury fuels her cruelty towards most who cross her path, culminating in a shockingly memorable scene.

A remarkable work of transgressive cinema, One Night with Adela is a merciless (and enjoyable) journey of vengeance. Its tense, energetic pace is immediately established as Adela, high, horny, and clenched jawed, begins her night of brutality. Filmed using a single-shot technique, audiences move deftly along with Adela as her wrath unfolds throughout the night and the truth is slowly revealed. Galán, who’s in nearly every shot, gives a brilliant performance as an extraordinarily unredeemable character who is as captivating as she is unlikable. Debut films that hit the senses this hard don’t come around often enough; enjoy the ride.––Caryn Coleman