Mamá es boba

Palencia, Spain, late 1990s. While Gema and Toribio, who live in their own cloud of precarious happiness, always smile stupidly as if they have to apologize for something they have not actually done, their little son Martín suffers, every day at school, an unbearable ordeal, tragic but also comical, that they, a peer of daydreaming simpletons, are unaware of.

Directed by Santiago Lorenzo, Mamá es boba leans on a strong ensemble — José Luis Lago, Faustina Camacho, Eduardo Antuña — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1997.