Afternoons of Solitude is the best film of 2024

There’s nothing typical about Albert Serra’s cinematic approach. With his latest, Afternoons of Solitude, he takes the audience into the intimate world of bullfighting as he follows Peruvian bullfighter Andrés Roca Rey into the ring. Using digital cameras and new, longer-lasting audio equipment, the breadth of the film is immense even if the world it brings us into feels infinitely tiny. We follow Rey into the ring, into dressing rooms and on the bus afterwards. The camera feels a part of the space and creates a kind of bubble around him, the crowd remaining completely offscreen and the modern world almost an afterthought. In many ways, it is; the brutality and violence of the bullfight feels anachronistic to the contemporary. Serra, without judgement, forces us to witness the magisterial ritual between life and death; man versus nature. 

Many other critics have been astute to point towards the alignment between the contemporary bullfight and fascism. It’s a ritual without meaning and a grand celebration of power. The illusion that it’s man versus nature is a false dichotomy as well; even if the bull prevails, killing the bullfighter, the animal will still be led to slaughter. The subjects uphold a vision of strength that is founded in artifice and misanthropy; everyone and everything is worthless and meaningless. Everyone but Rey is disposable. His followers building him up as a god by tearing everything else apart. The world is full of “bastards,” the bulls are “cowards” and “motherfuckers.” The violence of the world of bullfighting isn’t just the killing and torturing of a living bull, it’s the whole ethos.

Amidst that, Serra finds incredible sensuality. Though Serra has insisted his view on the subject is one without judgement, his edit paints a different story. It’s a world of nihilism but also incredible, fleeting beauty. It’s obvious that part of the film’s appeal lies in these connections between men and also animals, despite their obvious contempt. We not only watch the fights, but long sequences of our bullfighter getting dressed, which reveal enormous fragility and intimacy. As his companion asks about his wounds, it almost seems as though Rey’s body no longer belongs to him but to those around him, perhaps even to the country itself. A compelling, frustrating, ghastly film, Afternoons of Solitude is the best film of the year. ■

This review was originally published as part of our FNC 2024 coverage.

Afternoons of Solitude is scheduled for a theatrical release on March 7, 2025.

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