Afternoons of Solitude follows celebrated Peruvian matador Andrés Roca Rey through the charged ritual of modern bullfighting. Filmed across Spain’s grandest arenas, Albert Serra captures the ceremony and cruelty of the corrida with his patient, painterly gaze. Moving between the quiet solitude of hotel rooms and the ecstatic violence of the ring, the Catalan filmmaker crafts an unforgettable portrait of man and beast, the mythic and the mortal, theatre and death.

FESTIVALS & AWARDS

San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024
Official Selection, Golden Shell for Best Film

New York Film Festival 2024
Official Selection

Brisbane International Film Festival 2025
Australian Premiere

Cahiers du Cinémas Top 10 Films of 2025
No. 1

DETAILS

Aspect Ratio
1.85:1

Picture
Colour

Sound
5.1

Screening Format
DCP

Original Language Title
Tardes de Soledad

REVIEWS

“This is a major work from a richly maturing filmmaker, of a piece with his recent fiction features in its use of languid repetition and sensory saturation to pull the audience into something approaching a discomfiting dream state.” (Guy Lodge, Variety)

“This new documentary by Albert Serra is one of the most transfixing I’ve seen in a while… With its blend of intimacy and majesty, of breathless action and overarching monumentality, he achieves a unity, a synthesis, and a far-reaching vision.” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker)

“It’s a remarkable, multifarious work, and despite the controversial subject matter, it’s probably the closest thing that Serra has ever made to a crossover mainstream feature.” (David Jenkins, Little White Lies)

“A hypnotic, uniquely cinematic triumph, that puts great faith in the viewer’s judgment and patience.” (Robert Hughes, Town Hall)

FURTHER READING

The Plasticity of Blood: Albert Serra on Afternoons of Solitude (Ela Bittencourt, Notebook Interview)

“You Cannot Project Your Desire”: Albert Serra on Afternoons of Solitude, Bullfighting and Kristen Stewart (Ryan Akler-Bishop, The Film Stage)