Dysfunctional Family's Spanish Nightmare

Rosebush Pruning, a film recently premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, draws inspiration from Marco Bellocchio's 1965 Italian classic, Fists in the Pocket. The movie, set in a grand Spanish house, depicts a dysfunctional American family who relocated from New York six years prior.

Following the mother's demise by wolves, the children manage the family's inheritance while caring for their blind father. Tensions rise with desires and rivalries among siblings, particularly involving Jack and his fiancée Martha. The film attempts to delve into themes of class, desire, repression, and patriarchy.

Despite a psychosexual narrative featuring incest and murder, the film has been deemed boring and lacking the transgressive shock it aimed for. Critics note a mismatch between the director's style and the material, failing to achieve the compelling madness of its predecessor.