Film
The Sacred Spirit
A Spanish comedy-drama about a UFO enthusiast society whose eccentric leader dies, leaving a hapless member holding a supposed cosmic secret. It's a gently absurdist character study that finds real tenderness in the lives of believers, misfits, and people searching for meaning in the mundane. For anyone who loves small-scale ensemble stories with heart.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy quiet, deadpan comedy where a group of amateur believers take their absurd beliefs completely seriously, and the loneliness beneath the jokes lands harder than the gags.
Skip it if you need plot momentum, since this is a slow, meandering film where the comedy is mostly mood and the rhythm can feel aimless for long stretches.
What it asks of you: Ninety-seven minutes that linger, with long pauses where awkwardness carries the weight; you must sit with silence rather than wait for a punchline.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
About Schmidt2002
Jack Nicholson as a recently retired man adrift, encountering strange people and odder motivations across America. Captures that same wry affection for ordinary people wrestling with purpose and belonging.
But Episodic and deliberately unresolved; some find the tone too cool to be genuinely moving.
The Death of Stalin2017
A black-comedy ensemble piece about officials scrambling after their leader's sudden death, each with competing agendas and desperate schemes. Same structure of ordinary people in mild chaos, same dark humour.
But Stylized and fast-paced in ways The Sacred Spirit isn't; the satire overshadows character warmth.
The Lobster2015
Colin Farrell in a surreal fable about a society with absurd rules. Uses deadpan comedy and odd premise to explore loneliness, belonging, and what we'll accept to fit in.
But Aggressively strange; the tone is distancing and some find the premise exhausting rather than clever.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Sacred Spirit
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Vast of Night2019
Both find profound intimacy in the gap between UFO believer and social outsider; both suggest the search for extraterrestrial contact is really a search for being understood.
Small-town teenagers investigate a mysterious radio signal in 1950s New Mexico. Uses sci-fi mystery and UFO lore as portal into loneliness, curiosity, and the hunger to believe in something bigger. Shares The Sacred Spirit's odd marriage of UFO obsession and genuine human pathos.
But The science-fiction framing is much more central; some find the nostalgic Americana oversells its own mood.
More like this (5)
Lost in Translation2003
Bill Murray as a drifter adrift in Tokyo, finding connection with another lost soul. Melancholy, funny, and entirely about the small moments between people who don't quite fit anywhere.
But Plotless and very slow; the mood is reflective rather than dramatic, which frustrates viewers wanting shape and stakes.
Moonlight2016
Three-part ensemble exploring identity, vulnerability, and connection across time. Intimate, oblique, and concerned with how ordinary people carry private truths.
But Deliberately paced; the narrative is fragmentary and some find it reads more as mood piece than story.
The Farewell2019
A Chinese-American family gathers under a false pretense, unravelling tensions, secrets, and devotion. Balances comedy and gravity while celebrating the specific texture of a particular community.
But The cultural context may feel unfamiliar; pacing is unhurried and some moments read as anticlimactic.
Ikiru1952
A retiring Japanese bureaucrat discovers he has little time and few connections. Profound meditation on meaning, purpose, and whether an ordinary life matters—the ancestor of every small-scale human film that follows.
But Slow, sad, and committed to ambiguity; some find it emotionally exhausting rather than cathartic.
Stalker1979
Both treat UFO/cosmic preoccupation as a mirror for inner need; both suggest the answer is always internal, never extraterrestrial.
Andrei Tarkovsky's slow, metaphysical science-fiction about a guide leading seekers through a mysterious zone toward a room that grants wishes. Essentially a film about people who believe they're searching for something cosmic when they're actually searching for themselves.
But Glacially paced, mostly dialogue and landscape, deliberately unresolved, and built on philosophical abstraction rather than plot.
People
Cast
- Nacho FernándezJosé Manuel
- Llum ArquesVerónica
- Joanna ValverdeCharo
Rocío IbáñezCarmina- José Angel AsensioJulio
- Ainara ParedesAndrea
- David TerolRaúl Navarro
- Gorka TszyuRaúl Brufal
- Antonio Vicente BoixRaúl Soler
- Vicente PiqueresLaringectomizado
- María Dolores MolinaBrigi
- Isabel MatuteAparadora
Directing
- Chema García IbarraDirector
Writing
- Chema García IbarraWriter
Production
- Adán AliagaExecutive Producer
- Ion de SosaExecutive Producer
- Leire ApellánizProducer
- Marina Perales MarhuendaProducer
- Miguel MolinaProducer