Solas is a story that mirrors the lives a mother and her daughter María have as both have abusive relationships. When María's father is in hospital her mother stays with her daughter in Seville and meets a man (Vecino) of her own age in the apartment block. María's friend is only interested in the sexual part of their relation and immediately insists on having an abortion when he finds out she's pregnant. Mother and daughter now have to make important decisions about their future.<br /><br />The movie has a bleak and depressing atmosphere: María has an alcohol addiction, she becomes jobless after working as a cleaning lady, hospital scenes with María's not too friendly father, Seville has never looked worse. Also most color schemes are rather dark, except for the halls in the apartment block and Vecino's apartment as it is there that consolation is found by both women. The theme of abusive relationships is nowadays hot in Spanish cinema with the recent (and more centered) Te doy mis ojos. The Andalusian dialect is well done here as many people learning to speak Spanish will have trouble understanding parts of the movie.<br /><br />Some symbolism is used in this movie: Vecino's dog (loyalty but also guardian) is used to remind us of the disloyalty towards the father the mother experiences when she meets Vecino. María and her father sniffing on people, also demanding dog-like loyalty. Vecino's fish is fresh at first, but is later in the freezer, as is the possibility of a relationship between Vecino and the mother. And mind the name of our main protagonist María in relation to her story; her mother and father have no name in the movie; the mother played by María Galiana. The main message seems to be that nobody can be happy alone, although the irony is of course that all are alone (or lonely) because of one abusive relationship.<br /><br />Solas tells its story in a very slow pace, maybe to let us experience how slowly time flows for these unfortunate people. Its style is rather distant, so expect no cheap sentiment here. In the end the movie makes a time leap, but it feels as if that ending was rushed to leave the theater in a more uplifted mood. Also the ending feels contrived in a way. The same often happens with Mike Leigh's movies; take All or Nothing for instance, a movie and director where Solas has more in common with than meets the eye.<br /><br />The director Benito Zambrano has good storytelling skills, but lacks visual imagination when it comes to the medium of film. As he is also unable to structure the story in an interesting way, he is certainly no match for Pedro Almodóvar who has better visual skills and has learned how to structure a story. I guess Zambrano would be a far better writer than director. Solas is an interesting failure and one of the first Spanish movies in a long row I disliked somewhat. But that's also a little reassuring from the country that by now makes the most interesting movies in Europe.