The Portuguese House

Gutted by the disappearance of his Serbian wife, Fernando, a disoriented geography university lecturer from Barcelona, acquaints with Spanish gardener Manuel. He ends up in a Portuguese quinta, impersonating the gardener and establishing a friendship with the owner of the estate, the mysterious and warm Amalia.

The film is a Distinto Films co-production with O Som e a Fúria, Jaibo Films, and Almendros Blancos AIE and it had the participation of RTVE, 3Cat, À Punt, and RTP.^[5] It was shot in between Barcelona and Quinta da Aldeia, a quinta in Ponte de Lima.^[6]

The film was presented at the 28th Málaga Film Festival on 17 March 2025.^[7] It also made it to the international competition strand of the 26th BAFICI,^[8] to the 25th European Film Festival program held in conjunction with 8th Malaysia International Film Festival,^[9] to the main programme of the 53rd Norwegian International Film Festival,^[10] and to the international competition lineup of the 21st Santiago International Film Festival.^[11] It was released theatrically in Spain on 9 May 2025 by Filmax.^[12] By 1 June 2025, it had grossed €530,940 (84,438 admissions) at the Spanish box office.^[13]

Desforra Apache handled distribution in Portugal.^[5] A 31 July 2025 date was set for the film's theatrical release in Portugal.^[14]

Alfonso Rivera of Cineuropa deemed the film to be "a delightful, enigmatic fable that restores our faith in an ill-fated humanity".^[4]

Andrea G. Bermejo of Cinemanía rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, considering that the mise-en-scène features "a delightful elegance and attention to detail, displaying a prosaic and at the same time poetic narrative economy".^[15]

Raquel Hernández Luján of HobbyConsolas gave the film 67 points ('acceptable'), declaring it "a beautiful and humanistic film that reflects a kindness rarely seen in cinema", yet warning that if you like movies with pace, the film is not for you.^[16]

Javier Ocaña of El País described the film as a "mysterious film with deep literary flavour (although it is not based on any novel), without ceasing to be excellent cinema".^[17]

• List of Spanish films of 2025
• List of Portuguese films of 2025