Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle

Extroverted, spunky Julia is an 80-year-old Spanish matriarch who has seen all of her childhood dreams come true: she had lots of children, a monkey and a castle. Then the financial crisis hits, and she has to get rid of the castle. Luckily for her, Julia's adult children return to the castle to help her move the mountains of stuff their hoarder mother has accumulated. One of her sons is director Gustavo Salmerón, and he films the process in a nonchalant, intimate, home-video style. Unopened gifts emerge from cupboards full of boxes, as do dozens of umbrellas, plastic poop and Julia's mother’s dentures. The common thread through the film is the search for Julia's grandmother’s vertebrae, which were put away somewhere after she was murdered during the civil war. But where? Julia turns out to be a collection of contradictions, with a great sense of drama and humor. She was a member of the fascist party, considered joining a convent, and calls herself an atheist but is crazy about Christmas. Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle is about life, death and change, happiness and setbacks, and the importance of tangible and intangible things.