La madre muerta (1993): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1993, La madre muerta is a drama and crime film directed by Juanma Bajo Ulloa, running about 112 minutes.

What it’s about. Ismael Lopez (Elejaldo), a petty criminal, shoots and kills a painting restorer during a bungled burglary, and shoots her daughter as well. Twenty years later, and the daughter Leire (Alvarez) has been left mute and with a mental age of a child, spending most of her time in a mental home. A chance meeting between Leire and Ismael, who now works in a bar, leads Ismael to think that she still ight be able to recognise him, and turn him in to the police. With the help of his girlfriend Maite (Lio), he kidnaps Leire and chains her to the bed in his house. He is unable to kill her, however, and instead asks the mental home for a ransom for her return. Whilst a prisoner, though, Leire and Ismael grow closer and closer through his attempts to make her laugh and their mutual love for chocolate.

Who’s in it. La madre muerta stars Karra Elejalde as Ismael López de Matauko, Ana Álvarez as Leire, Lio as Maite and Silvia Marsó as Blanca, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.7/10, La madre muerta has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response. It went on to earn $498.6K at the box office.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ and Shudder and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch La madre muerta page.

If you liked it. Fans of La madre muerta tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.