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El molino
Movie

El molino

2024 • Comedy, Drama

Woke Score
3
out of 10

Plot

N/A

Overall Series Review

El molino is a Spanish costumbrista drama that centers on Mayte, an engineer who returns to her tiny, depopulated hometown to supervise the closure of a local project and the installation of a modern wind farm. Her return forces her to confront her past, including her childhood love, Jaime, and the memory of her father and the old mill that symbolizes the town’s heritage. The narrative explores the tension between global progress (the wind farm) and local tradition (the village's customs and sentimental memory), ultimately offering a sentimental and somewhat flat resolution that favors a reconciliation with the past and one's roots. The film’s focus is on universal themes of belonging, memory, and the choice between city and rural life, rather than explicit political or ideological messaging. Its inclusion of an openly trans actress in a non-identity-focused supporting role is the most notable element of contemporary diversity.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The story's central conflict revolves around the universal themes of memory, progress, and rural depopulation versus city life, not race or intersectional hierarchy. Character value derives from their choices (engineer, farmer, innkeeper) and personal history, not their immutable characteristics. There is no evidence of the vilification of white males.

Oikophobia3/10

The plot sets up a conflict between the protagonist's modern, European career (Baltic-based engineer) and the local Spanish rural traditions, personified by the small village and the old mill. However, the tone is sentimental, and the plot arc ultimately encourages a re-engagement with and sentimental memory of the 'home' and 'origins,' resulting in a positive, unifying conclusion for the community, not a demonization of their heritage.

Feminism4/10

The protagonist, Mayte, is a successful female engineer and project leader, establishing a 'Girl Boss' archetype through her professional status. However, a major part of her narrative arc involves the re-evaluation of her career-first life against the call of the family past, childhood love, and community, moving the narrative away from pure anti-natalist or 'perfect female lead' lecturing toward a balance of complementary male/female dynamics and personal fulfillment through connection.

LGBTQ+6/10

The cast includes a prominent trans actress, Abril Zamora, in the role of Mariajo, a woman who chose to leave the city to open an inn in the rural community. The inclusion is a clear nod to contemporary diversity. The character's gender identity is not the primary focus of the narrative; her role is to offer an alternative 'new beginning' perspective within the traditional setting. This inclusion, while not central to the plot, raises the score above a purely normative structure without reaching the level of centering sexual ideology or pushing a full 'queer theory' lens.

Anti-Theism1/10

The plot focuses entirely on material and sentimental conflicts: a corporate wind farm project, the preservation of personal memory, old wounds, and first love. There is no mention, direct or indirect, of religious faith, the Church, or a moral conflict based on divine or transcendent law. The morality of the characters is driven by local humanistic concerns and personal choice.