‘Another Man’ review: A gay man suffers an identity crisis in intimate, earnest Catalan drama

Dir/scr: David Moragas. Spain/Mexico. 2025. 90mins

A homosexual man in Barcelona who has been in a relationship for six years begins to query his place and objective in life within the Catalan-language home drama One other Man. That is the second characteristic from writer-director David Moragas, whose U.S.-set, black-and-white queer talkfest A Stormy Evening made the pageant rounds in 2020. His new movie, shot in color, can also be fairly verbose however feels much less claustrophobic because it examines the lifetime of its protagonist, his relationship together with his family members and the alluring neighbour throughout the road. After its world premiere in Thessaloniki’s Meet The Neighbours+ competitors, this might discover a snug berth at LGBTQ showcases and in area of interest launch.

Serves up a slice of queer life in an deliberately down-to-earth method

For higher or worse, it’s nonetheless refreshing to see a queer story that’s not about coming to phrases with one’s sexuality however that zooms in on common couplehood and its ups and downs, the orientation of the characters merely a given. The final Barcelona-set movie that flirted with this and made a global splash was Lucio Castro’s wonderful Finish Of The Century (2019) and, whereas that title had extra mental heft in addition to a extra jocular bent, Moragas’ extra intimate and earnest proposal is a robust addition to this rising style. 

Thirtysomething Marc (Lluís Marquès) is a graphic designer who works from dwelling and tends to overthink. His sister Marta (Bruna Cusí) is flighty, juggling her circle of relatives and younger youngster, and the 2 siblings are struggling to come back to phrases with the latest demise of their depressed mom. A superb instance of the movie’s awkward-funny tone comes within the prologue, when Marc’s accomplice Eudald (Quim Àvila), tries to lure him again into mattress, utterly misreading the scenario after Marc has simply acquired a name telling him his mom has died. It’s the sort of drawn-from-life element which you can’t actually maintain in opposition to Eudald – and but Marc can’t fairly appear to simply forgive him for it both. 

As in A Stormy Evening, there’s loads of speaking, with Marc analyzing, usually unwittingly, the place he’s in life, what others count on of him and the place he may wish to go. He’s often jealous of Eudald’s social {and professional} life, as his sweetheart works on movie units and is usually away from dwelling and continually assembly new individuals. But it’s apparent to the viewer — if not essentially the protagonist himself — that Marc is extra of a homebody and somebody with a smaller social battery. An ungainly ceremonial dinner with a few of Eudald’s pals (together with one performed by Ramon Pujol, star of Finish Of The Century), suggests as a lot whereas making it completely clear that it’s the viewers’s job to choose up on non-verbal clues with a view to piece collectively the finer character particulars. 

When Eudald means that possibly they need to transfer to the quieter suburbs, Marc rebels despite the fact that – given his quieter, homebody temperament – he would most likely be extra suited to life there than the extra outgoing Eudald. However Marc is a type of males who needs to provide the impression he’s answerable for his personal life, which is difficult to do when individuals round you retain pulling you in numerous instructions. To prime all of it off, an attractive new neighbour has simply moved into the house throughout the road and Marc is fascinated by him – although it’s unclear initially what sort of curiosity Marc actually has within the man. Is it sexual? Or does he see within the man so totally different from him the potential for one other life for himself? 

Marquès and Àvila make for a plausible, opposites-attract couple and One other Man serves up a slice of their queer life in an deliberately down-to-earth method. As with actual life, there is no such thing as a definitive ending to talk of, which can frustrate viewers who like a close to conclusion however which is able to resonate with those that favor a extra lifelike view.