Already heartbroken over her husband’s having abandoned her to vacation with another, younger woman, Magda (Penélope Cruz) suddenly learns she has breast cancer and must undertake both painful radiation treatments and a mastectomy. Armed with formidable resolve, Magda goes directly from receiving her devastating diagnosis to her son’s soccer practice—where she encounters Arturo (Luis Tosar), a scout for Spanish giants Real Madrid, perched nearby on the bleachers. Within minutes of their meeting, Arturo receives a phone call with the terrible news that his wife and daughter have been in a grave accident. Magda helps Arturo to the hospital where his wife lays in a coma. In the grueling hours and days that follow Magda and Arturo will forge a bond that will fortify their capacity for love and endurance as they face the hardest times of their lives.

This sophisticated melodrama from Julio Medem (Sex and Lucia, Lovers of the Arctic Circle) is as much a testament to survival as it is an ode to the complexity of human relations and emotions. Academy Award-winner Cruz gives the performance of a lifetime as a courageous woman ready to defy all odds in order to live life to the fullest. —Andres Castillo