THE STORY – Two sisters bring their families together for a summer weekend near Madrid to celebrate milestones and the San Juan Festival. The celebration turns dark when a child makes a serious sexual abuse allegation.
THE CAST – Elena Anaya, Emma Suárez, Josean Bengoetxea, Carlota Keiko, León Martínez, Nora Otxoteko & Aritz Kortabarria
THE TEAM – Ione Hernández (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 101 Minutes
From depicting a woman navigating motherhood as well as a difficult confrontation in “The Palace of the Moon” (“El palacio de la Luna”), the throes of childhood memories in “Juego,” to even dabbling in the fantastical with “Aizea: City of the Wind,” Ione Hernández has proven her versatility as a filmmaker with her various short films. Throughout her career, Hernández – originally helming from Spain – has also proven her knack for tackling tough and timely topics, and boasts degrees in Journalism and Communications to back this up. Considering this multifaceted background, it makes sense that the filmmaker decided on quite the timely subject matter with her debut feature film “Sisters” (“Hermanas”), which premiered at the esteemed 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.
Set during a sunny summer Madrid weekend celebrating festivals and family, “Sisters” hones in on sisters Chelo (Emma Suárez) and Marta (Elena Anaya) as their family is gathered together to enjoy the weather and festivities. This joyous atmosphere is quickly shattered when Chelo’s 13-year-old daughter Sofia (Carlota Keiko) accuses her 18-year-old cousin Lucas (Leon Martinez) of assaulting her in the night. While Chelo naturally believes her daughter and immediately begins to navigate the medical, legal, and psychological aftermath, Marta refuses to believe her son is capable of such a crime, and so the sisters find themselves at an impossible crossroads. While Lucas ends up in jail awaiting trial and claiming memory loss, Sofia retreats into herself, refusing to talk or entertain therapy. Thus sparks an incomprehensible family conflict that forces old wounds, trauma, and memories back to the surface.
With “Sisters,” Hernández poses uncomfortable questions and presents distressing material in a way that largely saves the narrative from falling down a path of complete melodrama. She holds the upsetting subject matter at a safe distance and instead pulls the focus straight onto the undulating relationship between the sisters, juxtaposing their fractured perspectives and differing experiences. Rather than focusing solely on the victim or accused perpetrator like many crime procedurals, “Sisters” takes a swing at originality with how it puts this family at odds under the microscope. And by not using any upsetting or grisly visuals for shock value, the drama earns respect by relying on the rest of its elements – such as its technicals and performances – to deliver its powerful sentiment.
The performances are solid enough, with Emma Suárez and Elena Anaya clearly committing to their roles as sisters navigating a life-shattering ordeal. They play the struggling siblings with an acute authenticity, and together craft a relationship that is raw and believable. The young actors Carlota Keiko and Leon Martinez portraying Sofia and Lucas, respectively, also deliver well enough, though they have significantly less to chew on with their secondary roles. Though not memorable, the scattered supporting characters fit in seamlessly, working alongside the heavy lifters such as Suárez and Anaya to craft a convincing cacophony of a family.
“Sisters” unfortunately does falter in its pacing, leading the drama to feel a bit meandering and long, even with its conservative 101 minute runtime. The film’s editing doesn’t do it any favors; with a plethora of shots lasting a few seconds more than necessary paired with a patchwork of drifting dialogue and scenes that fall into repetitious territory, Hernández’s drama sometimes feels vaguely like a featurette that has lost its way. Despite this, the scenes that work really land, and when the film delivers on emotion, it’s quite impactful. The other elements of “Sisters” work to elevate the feature, with Diego Dussuel’s simple yet appealing cinematography and Olivier Arson’s immersive original score acting as important supplemental aspects.
“Sisters” is a solid, though otherwise unremarkable, drama from a talented director who still seems to be finding her rhythm with long-form filmmaking. It might drag its feet and feel a bit repetitive at times, but overall, Hernández’s first feature is inspired and thought-provoking. With solid performances, passionate direction, and technicals that heighten its narrative, it’s far from unrewarding. And in a time when the conversations around sexual abuse as well as the credibility of survivors remain devastatingly relevant, Hernández delivers a noble picture. “Sisters” may not be particularly revelatory, but it upholds an uncomfortable yet authentic sort of intimacy throughout that is both brave and tangible.
