I Won't Die for Love

The plot explores the dilemma of 18-year-old Claudia, torn between becoming a caregiver for her mother who has Alzheimer's disease or making the most of her youth.^[2]

The screenplay taps incidents from the biography of director Marta Matute,^[4] who also took inspiration from the work of Carla Simón, Belén Funes, and Pilar Palomero.^[2] In 2021, while the project was in development, Matute won the 18th 'Julio Alejandro' SGAE Award for Best Feature Length Screenplay.^[5] It was picked up by the ECAM incubator program.^[4] The film is a Spanish-Belgian co-production by Solita Films (José Esteban Alenda and César Esteban Alenda) and Elastica Films (María Zamora) alongside Saga Film (Flavia Biurrun).^[2] It also received backing from ICAA, Eurimages, the Madrid regional administration, Ayuntamiento de Madrid, RTVE, Movistar Plus+, and Filmin.^[6] Shooting locations included Valdemoro (Matute's hometown) and Madrid.^[7] Sara Gallego worked as director of photography, using an Alexa 35 and Kowa Cine Prominar lenses.^[8]

The film was presented in the official selection of the 29th Málaga Film Festival on 11 March 2026.^[9][10] It was also programmed at the 16th D'A Film Festival [ca].^[11] Elastica Films will handle theatrical distribution in Spain.^[6] It is scheduled to be released theatrically in Spain on 8 May 2026.^[12]

Laura Pérez of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, determining it to possess "a brutal emotional honesty", also writing that it is "crafted with precision", with every move carefully calculated so as not to give any satisfaction until well into the film.^[13]

In a 4-star rating, Manuel J. Lombardo of Diario de Sevilla wrote that I Won't Die for Love turns out to be "raw, honest, direct and uncompromising" film.^[14]

Javier Ocaña of El País assessed that the "excellent" film delivers a story which is "harrowing yet moving, vicious yet hopeful", although none of its achievements would have been possible without the awe-inspiring performances by Mascort, Almarcha, del Estal, and Weissmahr.^[15]

Marta Medina del Valle of El Confidencial rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, adscribing it to the "intimist" trend of recent Spanish cinema in search of the hyperrealist portrait, in which the "superb" performances of the film's four leads are framed.^[16]

Alfonso Rivera of Cineuropa praised how Matute manages to convey her message "through a mature, restrained, measured and meticulous direction, where silences, ellipses and glances carry more weight than dialogue".^[3]

• List of Spanish films of 2026