In the Company of Women (Spanish: Las buenas compañías) is a 2023 Spanish-French drama film directed by Sílvia Munt which stars Alícia Falcó, Itziar Ituño, and Elena Tarrats. Inspired by the case of the Basauri 11, the plot, set in the Basque town of Errenteria against the backdrop of the so-called Spanish Transition, explores the plight of women clandestinely helping other women to terminate their pregnancy.
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Plot
In the Summer of 1977, Bea involves with a group of activists supporting women rights and the right to abortion in the Basque town of Errenteria, while also falling for an older well-off girl, Miren.
Production
The screenplay was penned Munt alongside Jorge Gil Munarriz. The film is a Spanish-French co-production by Irusoin, Oberon Media, En la Frontera Película, Manny Films, La Fidèle Production, with the participation of EiTB, TV3, and RTVE, and support of ICAA, ICEC, and the Basque Government. Shooting locations included Errenteria, Pasaia, San Sebastián, and Biarritz.
Release
The film was presented in the official selection of the 26th Málaga Film Festival on 13 March 2023. Distributed by Filmax, it was released theatrically in Spain on 5 May 2023.
Reception
Matías G. Rebolledo of La Razón considered Las bueñas compañías, ultimately a film about insolence, to be "didactic but not instructive, empathetic but not sentimentalist, realistic but not historicist".
Víctor A. Gómez of La Opinión de Málaga assessed that Falcó's central presence dwarves and renders inane the rest of performances, efforts from Munt notwithstanding.
Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily wrote that the film brings a "fresh female perspective" which, "despite its tragic undertow, is best seen as a celebration of those heady, transformative times [the 1970s] and a reminder of what solidarity can achieve".