This San Sebastian winner Magical Girl was well played and compellingly directed by Carlos Vermut . It's not hard to recognize tales that have been reverse-engineered , those that fashion individual roles and contrive to bring those disparate souls together in the most convenient way possible . Far more weird is the story that begins from a center and organically evolves , unwittingly capturing its ancillary players . Carlos Vermut's "Magical Girl" certainly feels like the latter , developing sad events by means of an intriguing as well as thought-provoking atmosphere . It stars with Luis Bermejo and Barbara Lennie ; star Jose Sacristan also top-lines . The impetus for all of this intrigue is a sudden hospital visit for Alicia (Alicia Pollan) , a 12-year-old girl living with leukemia and she dreams to have a dress of a famous Japanese series : Magical Girl , Yukiro . Her father Luis (Luis Bermejo) learns that Alicia is terminal (a detail never explicitly stated but delivered in the first clear example that Vermut is in complete control of his story) . After Alicia is released , he stumbles across Alicia's diary, discovering her wish to own a dress identical to one worn by her favorite anime star . When the price tag results out to be far beyond his dwindling savings , the daddy attempts to get it at whatever means . Because of this last wish he will meet a disturbed girl (Barbara Lennie) and a retired school professor (Jose Sacristan) .

'Magical Girl' is a razor-sharp flick of unintended consequences . This is an interesting film , it is both an asset and a weakness of Spanish director Carlos Vermut's sophomore feature , an elaborately contrived, imagination-dependent dark comedy/drama that operates through sleight of hand , misleading into following a preteen leukemia patient's dying wish while it assembles another , far more sinister secondary narrative deep in its viewers' collective subconscious . The picture relies heavily between relation between an obstinate dad and his daughter with terminal cancer , both of whom weaving their troubled lives together with ample sorrow . Rare flick , its has a few gaps and is slow moving , but anyway, it is compensated with the great performances . Good acting from Luis Bermejo as unfortunate father of an ill girl tries to obtain her daughter last wish , to get the dress of the main character of a Japanese TV series and Barbara Lennie gives a splendid portrayal of a emotionally affecting young woman . Special mention for Jose Sacristan , a veteran actor who was born in 1937 , Chinchón, Madrid . He is an magnificent actor and occasionally director, especially known for Un Lugar en Mundo (1992),Éste Es Mi barrio (1996) and El Viaje a Ninguna Parte (1986). He is married to also actress Leonor Benedetto. Other important films he performed are the followings : Un Hombre Llamado Flor de Otoño , Niñas.. Al Salón , Reina Zanahoria , Acto Posesión , Asignatura Pendiente , Hasta Matrimonio Nos Separe and Parranda . In addition , Sacristan directed three acceptable films : 1977 Yo Bajo en la Próxima, ¿y Usted? , 1987 Cara Acelga and 1983 Soldados De Plomo .

Confirming the emergence of an original voice able to reflect on the impact of Spain's crisis while constructing scenes of a near Tarantino-esque tension, "Magical Girl" nabbed seven Goya Noms . However , Alberto Rodriguez's thriller Marshland was the clear winner at the 29th Goya Awards, Daniel Monzon's El Nino, which had been nominated in 16 categories, won four technical awards, while Carlos Vermut's Magical Girl only landed the top actress for Barbara Lennie's portrayal of a emotionally fragile woman . Besides , this deliberately "wrong" cult offering (which won prizes for best film and director at San Sebastian . The motion picture was originally directed by Carlos Vermut . Vermut comes to cinema from a background in comic-book illustration, and though he brings a strong visual sense to his big screen work , including his low-budget debut, "Diamond Flash" , though he previously made some successful Shorts .

Horrible girl, ill-advised girl, disturbing girl... Anything but magical.

"Magical girl" has an easily understood plot, which still makes not much sense, because everything is symbolic and with various layers. Which makes the story, quite disturbing to start with, think of itself in a too highly way.

It all goes about a young girl, who is sick, and who would like to have a dress from an anime, a Japanese animation series. Her father, decides to do whatever, but whatever, to get her the dress.

That everyone in this movie has some kind of mental problem, or is in mental pain, is quite obvious. The young girl is probably the sanest in all the story. Too bad we are all the time with the creepy father, a young woman with a dark past, who has a very controlling and creepy husband, and a creepy old teacher of her who has just been released from prison. All characters are quite creepy. And this without taking into account the constant hammering of symbols, which also have a strange patriotic tinge to it (bullfighting to justify that Spaniards are not like the Nordic people but neither like Italians or Latinos?; the very Spanish music or the TV playing a Spanish selection match...).

So, the movie seems to say that people in pain or who see people in pain may do crazy things. It could also be about the sick girl and everything be about her illness. Or about the young woman and the very sick life she has had till that moment (and all the "nice" men that surround her). In the end, magic is conspicuous by its absence, but creepiness overstays its welcome, as the movie is two hours long.

Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival 2015 (IFFR). In short: Unbalanced and illogical all over. Apparently hoping that the feel-good aspects of the story let us overlook all its faults. Anyway, It did not jerk any of my tears.

The narrative left more than a few uncharted fields, and focused on other things that I deem mere side-ways. Important aspects of the underlying drama are not revealed to us, like why Barbara's past is so scary for Damian, and what her "psychological" issues exactly were (quote from IFFR website) or why she is a "disturbed girl" (quote from IMDb). The magical trick we see in school, in one of the openings scenes, is not enough to connect the dots later on. Similarly unclarified, we see how Damian reacts on Barbara's phone call, but leaving his defiant attitude devoid of any explanation. He seems just scared for unknown reasons. And near the finale, after learning how Barbara and the girl's father met and (!) that he stayed overnight, he freaks out, even to the extent that his attitude towards the father turns 180 degrees, all of that still for reasons unknown.

That the father goes at any length to fulfill his ailing daughter's last wish, may be understandable as this is what parents do. But what we see happening here is certainly over-the-top. He does not even make an attempt to verify whether her wish still exists, as this could have been a short-lived dream from years ago. I admit that I'm trying to be rational here, but I never was a father, so what do I know.

Finally, I am prepared to overlook how very coincidental our three protagonists meet each other. It is convoluted, but it could have happened this way, including the loose piece of the jigsaw puzzle lying on the street. On the other hand, the time devoted to all these side-ways would have been better spent on extra background information on the three. The synopsis on the festival website was a required read, yet insufficient to grasp all of the drama that enfolds in two hours time. We are withheld from being pulled in by the story, and also are being prevented from identifying ourselves with either one of the main characters, not even with the father who would be the obvious candidate for our sympathy.