Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A trapeze artist must decide between her lust for Sergio, the Happy Clown, or her affection for Javier, the Sad Clown, both of whom are deeply disturbed.
Álex de la Iglesia's The Last Circus is a wildly distinctive Spanish film that uses a violent love triangle between two deranged clowns as an allegory for Spain's traumatic civil war legacy. Its novelty is genuinely exceptional — there is nothing quite like it in tone, imagery, or ambition. Cinematography is a standout, with de la Iglesia crafting grotesque, visually audacious setpieces — the climax atop the Valle de los Caídos monument being particularly striking. The plot is ambitious but uneven, lurching between political allegory, dark romantic obsession, and splatter horror in ways that don't always cohere. Acting is competent and committed but not revelatory. The ending is memorable in its excess but somewhat overwrought, sacrificing emotional resonance for operatic spectacle.