Aitor Arregi and José Mari Goenaga‘s ‘Maspalomas‘ is a warm, emotionally rich queer comedy-drama that explores ageing, identity and second chances through the eyes of a man who, after finally finding happiness late in life, is unexpectedly forced back into the closet. Premiering at the Official Selection of the 2025 San Sebastián Film Festival and out in Belgium since today, the film combines humour, heartbreak, introspection, and social commentary in a character-driven story that places older LGBTQIA+ lives at its centre.
The film follows Vicente (José Ramón Soroiz), a 76-year-old gay man who has spent the past 25 years living openly after coming out later in life, a decision that cost him both his marriage and his relationship with his daughter Nerea (Nagore Aranburu) but brought him years of happiness with his younger partner, Esteban.
Following the end of that relationship, Vicente embraces single life in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria‘s (in)famous queer resort town, spending his days on the beaches, at the Yumbo Centre and enjoying casual encounters. The opening scenes are unusually explicit, portraying lust and intimacy with confidence – you see cocks, bellies, and wrinkled bodies – but without being pornographic.
That freedom comes to an abrupt end when Vicente suffers a stroke during a threesome in the playroom. Forced to return to his hometown of San Sebastián in Basque Country, he enters a retirement home to recover.
There, surrounded by conservative residents and uncertain how his sexuality will be received, he finds himself hiding a fundamental part of his identity once again. The film cleverly transforms what initially appears to be a straightforward rehabilitation story into a meditation on what it means to rebuild a life at an age when most people believe their story has already been written.
One of the film’s greatest strengths is its nuanced portrayal of old age. Rather than treating elderly characters as comedy or symbols of decline, ‘Maspalomas’ presents them as people who continue to desire companionship, intimacy and purpose. Vicente’s evolving friendship with his politically outspoken (and probably a former school bully) roommate Xanti (Kandido Uranga), whose conservative politics contrast sharply with Vicente’s life experiences, provides many of the film’s funniest moments while also offering genuine emotional depth.
The relationship between Vicente and his estranged daughter Nerea forms the emotional backbone of the story. Their unresolved history, rooted in Vicente’s departure from the family after coming out, avoids simplistic forgiveness. Instead, the story explores how decades of silence, regret and misunderstanding affect both generations, with several conversations carrying considerable emotional weight.
Other themes present are changing social attitudes towards gay people in Spain, and COVID-19. At one point, the elderly celebrate the arrival of 2020.
While not being completely groundbreaking and tapping into some tropes, ‘Maspalomas’ offers an often untold story on being gay, old and still wanting to haver sex, in a context of a retirement home with ‘schoolish’ rules.
