The Apostate

Spanish director Federico Veiroj's lightly absurdist comedy-drama centers on a slacker named Gonzalo (co-writer Álvaro Ogalla) who can't graduate from college, let alone live as an adult. Gonzalo's mother worries about her son and feels shame over his failure to launch, but Gonzalo isn't doing much to encourage her. Gonzalo's primary sexual partner is a cousin (Marta Larralde), his closest relationship seems to be with a boy he's been tutoring (whose single mom is clearly, if futilely, interested in Gonzalo), and his strongest conviction appears to be that if he can only get his baptism wiped from the Catholic Church's records, he will be able to reclaim something essential about his identity. Ogalla drifts through the film with a certain Chaplinesque, wide-eyed view of the world, although he is staunchly wary of conformity, as witnessed in an especially surreal encounter with a group of gossipy nudists. Veiroj keeps the tale moving smoothly while adding fanciful touches (including music by Prokofiev) as he casts a sardonic eye on heavy-handed church traditions. Veiroj even occasionally hints at the fierce, anti-church satire of fellow Spaniard Luis Buñuel, including a scene with a group of nuns working at a bank of computers in a document room. Recommended. (T. Keogh)