MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 19, 2026: GOAT GIRL (LA NINA DE LA CABRA)
A young girl living in Madrid in the late 1980s learns a lot about life in writer/director Ana Asensio’s charmingly poignant Spanish drama Goat Girl (aka La Niña de la Cabra). Maintaining a child’s-eye view throughout, Asensio captures how challenging it can be to make sense of the world around you when you’re just 8 years old and beginning to understand that grownups don’t have all the right answers.
Elena (Alessandra González) lives with her mother Marisa (Lorena López), her father Pablo (Javier Pereira), and her beloved grandmother (Gloria Muñoz), also named Elena, in an apartment that overlooks a dusty plaza. Young Elena is studying for her First Communion and loves to dance for her abuela, who appreciates music, perfume, and pretty things, unlike the more pragmatic Marisa and Pablo. And the girl is entranced by Serezade, a gypsy girl around her age who does her own dance performances in the plaza for money, always accompanied by her pet goat.
After her grandmother passes away, Elena finds herself questioning everything from her parents’ seeming lack of empathy to her feelings about the loss to the teachings of Padre Carrillo (Enrique Villén), who means well but overwhelms Elena and many of the other children with his talk of confession, communion, and evil. When she gets angry and makes an impulsive decision, Elena discovers that she has more agency than she knew and that the wide world isn’t very far away at all — but also that choices have consequences.
Asensio elicits an impressive performance from her young star; González is in nearly every frame of the film and feels authentically childlike at all times. But her Elena is also an old soul, her big dark eyes seeing so much more than her parents think — and understanding in the core of her being that she doesn’t have to take what she’s been taught at face value. And that’s a reminder that almost everyone can benefit from. – Betsy Bozdech
Team #MOTW’s comments:
Leslie Combemale I love so many aspects of Goat Girl. I loved that it captures what grief looks like to pre-pubescent kids. I loved how it portrays how damaging Christianity can be to the grieving process. I also really love how the film captures the kind of peer pressure and parental pressure kids often have to endure in the process of “becoming”. Much of this is expressed in part by using elements of magical realism, and if we can’t buy into that as the perspective of a kid navigating the brutal realiities of life, when can we? The film is a bit of a cautionary tale about the imperative of using our own instincts and inner voice, even when those in charge tell us we’re wrong. That’s timeless, whether we are 10 years or 90 years old.
Jennifer Merin Goat Girl (La Nina de la Calabra) is an excetionally sensitive chidhood drama from Spanish actress/filmmaker Ana Asensio, who wrote, directed and stars in the beautifully crafted film. Set in Madrid in 1988, the narrative follows eight-year-old Elena as she prepares for her First Communion while deeply mourning the death of her beloved grandmother. Strongly influenced by her grandmother’s traditinal teachings (including dynamic flaminco dancing), Elena is smart, sensitive and often rebelious against her conservative mother’s conventional parenting demands. When she befriends Serezade, a Roma girl who is devoted to her pet goat, and becomes fascinated by Serezade’s freedom within her Roma community, Elena begins to question the social conventions she’s been taught to follow. The film witnesses her shift in perspective. Starring child actor Alessandra González, absolutely brilliant in her big-screen debut, the film tells its tale from Elena’s point of view, with Ana Asensio voicing adult Elena’s off camera narration about Elena’s memories of her childhood friendships, religious practice, superstitions, death and dancing. Alessandra González is an absolute delight! The film’s clear references to the prevelant social and political context of late-1980s Madrid give the film gravitas beyond the not-so-simple story of Elena’s coming of age.
Sandie Angulo Chen: Goat Girl (La Nina de la Calabra) is a wonderful exploration of faith, friendship, and loss from Spanish writer-director Ana Asensio. As eight-year-old Elena prepares for her First Communion, her beloved maternal grandmother dies. Soon after, Elena strikes up an unexpected friendship with a Roma girl named Serezade. Set in 1988 Madrid, the film features a standout debut performance from young Alessandra González, who beautifully portrays Elena’s grief as she grapples with her loss and her looming rite of passage. It’s a gem of a film, filled with the joy and turbulence of childhood.
Loren King The mysteries of the world, from a beloved grandmother’s death to a new friendship to the rituals of the Catholic Church, are delicately explored in director Ana Asensio’s La Niña de la Cabra or Goat Girl. Set in 1988 Madrid, the film unfolds through the innocent and luminous eyes of nine year-old Elena (an exquisite Alessandra González in her big screen debut) who lives in a high-rise above a plaza where musicians and dancing gypsies serve as magical inspiration for a young girl struggling to master ballet and coping with the recent sudden death of her loving and beloved grandmother. Elena is drawn to Serezade (played by another natural first time actress, Juncal Fernández), a scrappy girl her age who has a pet goat and who performs with her gypsy family in the plaza. Elena has reason to want to escape into their intoxicating world of music, colorful bracelets and flowing costumes. Her busy parents don’t seem to want to talk about the loss of Elena’s grandmother. Instead they’re focused on the expenses of Elena’s impending First Communion, a rite that requires Elena to attend classes in church with the local priest where she stares in bewilderment at Christ on the cross and a weeping madonna. Asensio gets such a magnificent performance from young González that Elena’s wonder, confusion, fear, sadness and joy are tenderly conveyed in a film that is at once intimate and tender, perceptive and poignant.
Monique Jones Ana Asensio’s Goat Girl is a touching examination of a girl’s personal development as they discover what they believe about themselves, religion, and those shunned by society. Alessandra González does a fantastic job playing Elena, navigating complex emotional beats with a cherubic, inquisitive air. The film also succeeds in making its audience see the world for Elena’s point of view; like most kids, Elena sees the world as big, confusing, and a place where grown-ups seem to know the rules. The camera work makes sure we see the world like that as well. We are reminded of how we saw the world as children, and how it seemed like everyone older than us knew how things worked, only to realize later on that they were just as clueless. The film’s religious and societal examinations also remind us that even those who are supposed to be “experts,” like priests, are still human and prone to making mistakes, such as telling children, who have yet to commit any real sin, that they are guilty sinners. The goat itself proves how much people don’t know about life; is a goat an image of the devil, or is it just a harmless farm animal? To paraphrase what As Elena’s grandmother (Gloria Muñoz) instilled in her, men who know nothing weave tall tales. Overall, Goat Girl reminds us that life is meant to be curiously explored, not be bogged down in dogma.
Liz Whittemore Goat Girl‘s success rests on the tiny shoulders of young actress Alessandra González. González’s vibrant, intuitive portrayal of 8-year-old Elena is the stuff of dreams. Juncal Fernández’s Serezade possesses the pure freedom Elena longs for. Filmmaker Ana Asensio’s exploration of innocence and childlike wonder will pull at any viewer’s heartstrings. Asensio gives Elena an incredibly high emotional intelligence. Anyone with childhood religious trauma will be transported back in time. Elena holds all the hope, fear, and adult expectations put upon us in our youth. David Tudela’s cinematography combined with Nacho Ruiz Capillas’ editing is breathtaking. Asensio gorgeously captures curiosity, faith, humanity, and healing.
Cate Marquis Spanish actress-turned-director Ana Asensio’s insightful look at childhood in 1988 Madrid, as told through an eight-year old child’s eyes who is mourning her recently deceased Grandma and preparing for her First Communion. When a family of traveling Roma performers, shows up in the courtyard of the apartment complex where she lives, Elena befriends free-spirited Serezade, a Roma girl of the same age. Elena is drawn to Serezade’s lifestyle, but her religious, conservative mother forbids her daughter to go near the Romas. Read full review.
FILM DETAILS:
Title: Goat Girl (La Nina de la Calabra)
Director: Ana Asencio
Release Date: June 19, 2026 (limited)
Running Time: 95 minutes
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Screenwriter: Ana Asensio
Lead Performers: Alessandra González, Juncal Fernández, Ana Asencio
Distribution Company: Outsider Pictures
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Betsy Bozdech, Leslie Combemale, Monique Jones, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Liz Whittemore
Other Movies Opening This Week
Edited by Jennifer Merin
