Bitter Christmas

9/12/2026

Split across two distinct timelines, this really quite messy and often almost incoherent drama tells us the story of the migraine-prone "Elsa" (Bárbara Lennie) as she recovers from the death of her mother - after a lingering illness - in 2004. She heads to the calm of the black-sanded Lanzarote to rejuvenate her writing career with her troubled friend "Natalia" (Milena Smit) whilst abandoning her hunky fireman/stripper boyfriend "Beau" (Patrick Criado) at home in Madrid. The later timeline introduces us to filmmaker "Raúl" (Leonardo Sbaraglia) who is putting the finishing touches to a screeenplay that bears a striking rememblance to the life of "Elsa" - a fact that shocks his hitherto loyal assistant "Mónica" (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) who had recently resigned to go and take care of a sister