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Alcarras Movie Review

Alcarras is a 2022 Spanish drama film directed by Carla Simon. It is a very charming slice-of-life tale that is slow, but very well made.

For generations, the Solé family has made a living from the summer harvest of their peach orchard in the Catalan town of Alcarrás. However, after the death of the owner of the property, his heir wants to sell the land. This movie isn’t particularly rich thematically speaking. It does depict the importance of keeping the traditions alive and the difficulties of living a more antiquated lifestyle in this modern era, but more could have been done with these themes at the end of the day.

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That is because the dialogue here is somewhat sparse. The focus is so clearly put on the depictions of the family’s activities than on the exploration of their lifestyle. This was done for better and for worse. It led to a rather slowly paced movie, but it also made the film very much lived-in, atmospheric and meticulously detailed.

The slice-of-life elements mostly really worked. Getting to see the harvesting methods and all the different things that they would do on this farm was quite charming and it’s one of those movies that are just perfect to be watched on a summer evening outside. It is cozy and inherently likable throughout.

The characters overall aren’t as well developed as I would have hoped. They have their discussions and disagreements, but for the most part the drama here is sidelined. The patriarch of the family is the most interesting person and he got the most to do while most of the others are somewhat underdeveloped.

Alcarras is gorgeously shot and each frame is rich with vivid details of farm life that make the movie fascinating to watch. The score is also lovely and quite memorable while the directing, editing and production design are uniformly strong. The pacing is too leisurely in the middle act, but still the movie is mostly very engaging.

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