Arturo Dueñas’ Supporting Actresses (Secundarias) is a love letter to theater, but more than that, it’s a bustling, compelling portrait of the people who make it come alive. Set against the backdrop of an opening night performance at the Calderón Theater in Valladolid, this Spanish-language film blurs the line between fiction and reality in deeply satisfying ways. It’s shot (or appears to be shot) in one, continuous take, and that single, unbroken breath captures the anxiety, chaos, beauty, and deeply human moments that unfold behind the curtain.
The film opens with a dark screen and orchestral music, like a play about to begin. But the story we step into isn’t the grand historical drama being performed - Letters to the Emperor, set during the final hours of Emperor Charles V’s life - but the tangled, intertwined lives of the women preparing to perform it. We don’t start on stage, but instead backstage - in the dressing room right as the actresses start to arrive to get ready for the show.
Supporting Actresses is mostly filmed in lush black and white, with a hand-operated camera that although sometimes shaky, lends a sense of realism to what we are seeing. When we glimpse the play onstage, however, it bursts into vivid color. The visual contrast is simple but striking, marking the difference between the heightened artifice of performance and the raw, unfiltered reality unfolding backstage.
Though the film revolves around the premiere of the play, it’s not really about the performances we watch. It’s about everything around it: the nerves, the gossip, and the quiet moments of solidarity and tension among the cast. Dueñas creates a space that feels alive with possibility and panic, capturing small but truthful details: a girl turning off the mirror lights by accident and sheepishly turning them back on, another struggling into her costume and wondering if she’s gained weight, a tailor who’s memorized the entire play and recites it word-for-word as she watches the stage from a TV. As someone who’s done theatre before, it’s all very real. I found myself laughing and relating to the conversations I heard many times while watching.
The cast, using their real names, gives the film a layer of authenticity that makes the relationships feel lived-in and believable. Bea, bruised and evasive, draws concern that lingers unspoken. Marta, older and serious, drinks wine and keeps her distance - until the moment when real life interrupts art. Pino is vibrant and talkative, nervously balancing school exams with stage jitters. Inesita brings sweetness both through her temperance and pastries she brings for everyone at the beginning. And Pablo, the mysterious actor playing Charles V, stays on stage the whole time, even before it starts. The dialogue between all of them feels natural, and like something we’d observe in real life. You almost start to forget you’re watching a movie at some points.
The film builds to a moment where the boundary between stage and reality dissolves in a deeply unexpected way. Just as the play hits its emotional peak, something real interrupts the performance - forcing everyone involved to pause and reassess. What follows is quiet, surreal, and emotionally resonant: a stillness that settles over the theater like a breath held in suspension.
Supporting Actresses is a delicate, beautifully observed film that feels as if it came from someone who really understands and has experienced what it’s like to be backstage in a play. With its one-shot structure, clever use of color, and focus on ensemble rather than spotlight, it draws you into the very human mess of putting on a show. Ultimately, it’s about ambition, disappointment, camaraderie, and the unexpected ways people step into roles both onstage and off.
Supporting Actresses screens at the 2025 New Jersey International Film Festival on Saturday, June 7th. The film will be Online for 24 Hours. Tickets are available for purchase here.
The 30th annual New Jersey International Film Festival will be taking place between May 30-June 13, 2025. The Festival will be a hybrid one as we will be presenting it online as well as doing select in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VOD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA. Each General Admission Ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person when both are offered. Plus, we are very proud to announce that acclaimed singer-songwriter Mike Kovacs will be doing an audio-visual concert on Friday, June 13 at 7PM! The in-person screenings and the Mike Kovacs concert will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$120; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program.
For more info go here: https://2025newjerseyinternationalfilmfestival.eventive.org/welcome
