Review: Despite Everything (A pesar de todo)

Blanca Suárez, Amaia Salamanca, Belén Cuesta, and Macarena García in Despite Everything (A pesar de todo)

Despite Everything (A pesar de todo) is a Netflix Spanish language drama about 4 sisters. It’s a lightweight plot, but an interesting look at the relationship of the sisters.

In Hollywood, they love to take the most popular male and female stars and put them together in a romcom. Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. The twist the Spanish did here was take two hugely popular Spanish women that are guaranteed American favorites and put them in this comedy for Netflix.

I’m talking about Blanca Suárez from Cable Girls and Amaia Salamanca from Grand Hotel.

It worked. I watched it.

Blanca Suárez, Amaia Salamanca, Belén Cuesta, and Macarena García in Despite Everything (A pesar de todo)

Four sisters are called home to Madrid when their mother dies. They are Sara (Blanca Suárez), who lives in New York City and runs a fashion empire, Lucia (Macarena García) who is the youngest and kind of a wild child, Sofía (Amaia Salamanca) who is a lesbian who hasn’t introduced her girlfriend to anyone in the family, and Claudia (Belén Cuesta) who is the eldest and in a troubled marriage.

Blanca Suárez, Amaia Salamanca, Belén Cuesta, and Macarena García in Despite Everything (A pesar de todo)

They learn at the reading of the will that they have 4 different fathers. The remainder of the story involves the tensions among the sisters as they try to figure out who their fathers are.

Marisa Paredes plays their departed mother, who videos in the news from the great beyond. She leaves out the specifics of which men and which daughter. Other important characters in the cast are played by Maxi Iglesias, Carlos Bardem, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Tito Valverde, and Ariana Martínez. Despite Everything (A pesar de todo) was directed by Gabriela Tagliavini.

The plot was transparent, but it was nice to see a couple of Spanish actresses I’ve grown fond of in a contemporary setting using modern language and dressed in the current style. Blanca Suárez and Amaia Salamanca had the only heavily emotional scene in the film when one of them did something stupid that betrayed the other. (Not only was it stupid, it was completely out of character.)

The sisters searched for the missing fathers, argued, got drunk, got high, sang songs, and bonded as adult women.

Despite Everything (A pesar de todo) certainly wasn’t a masterpiece, but it was pleasant and worth watching.

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Despite Everything (A pesar de todo) poster featuring Blanca Suárez, Macarena García, Amaia Salamanca, and Belén Cuesta. Read my review of this Spanish language film.

1 thought on “Review: Despite Everything (A pesar de todo)”

  1. Pingback: Recommended Foreign Language Films and TV Series - Old Ain't Dead

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