Solo Mia

We've seen this story many times before, though rarely in such harrowing fashion, or with subtitles. To wit, a Neanderthal husband wants the wifey barefoot and pregnant: he hits, she cries, he apologizes, she forgives--repeat in a vicious cycle. Intense and dark, Javier Balaguer's Solo Mia--which was nominated for four Goyas (Spain's Oscar), including ones for leads Sergi López and Paz Vega--eschews melodrama, intercutting agonizing scenes of his rage and her submission with hints of her torturing him. But even the aptness and poetic justice of the finale combined with the powerful depth of the central performances can't make this uncomfortable and thematically shopworn film worth watching. Optional. (M. Johanson)