Spanish Affair 2

Spanish Affair 2 ('Ocho Apellidos Catalanes') opens the Spanish Film Festival with a sequel to the very popular Spanish Affair from 2014. It follows the Andalusian Spaniard Rafa (Dani Rovira) as he learns that his Spanish Affair heart-throb Amaia (Clara Lago) is getting married to someone who isn't him, and his quest to dash up there, stop the wedding and re-unite with Amaia. This well-worn rom-com staple is given a Spanish flair with cultural and ethnic tensions between the wildly-varied groups of Spain getting thrown into the mix, leading to a staggering number of jokes based around Basques, Catalans, Andalusians and Galicians that will leave someone unfamiliar with Spain reeling.

Region-specific comedy aside, Spanish Affair 2 does actually feature a decent amount of original humour that stands out from the ordinary men-are-like-this-and-women-like-that punchlines infesting the rom-com genre. In addition, it manages to steer mostly clear of the tired string of 'hilarious' misunderstandings which often substitute for plot. Unfortunately, where it's left lacking is in the motivation. None of what the characters do makes any sense at all, and the emotional range displayed onscreen stretches from plainly contrived to painfully flat.

Apart from the laughs derived from outrageous indie-hipster stereotype Pau (Berto Romero) and the fervour of Amaia's Basque father Koldo (Karra Elejalde), Spanish Affair 2 largely fades into the background as just another forgettable romantic comedy.