Lily returns to her flatshare after spending a few weeks in a mental health hospital. Ruth is a homeless street poet. Monica is a single mother who lives in a hotel. As the day unfolds, their stories become inextricably intertwined.
Modern Women
Hugo Santa Cruz
Born in 1980 in Madrid/Spain. Studied Linguistics and was a touring musician for DJ Hell’s label in Munich. Active as a writer, director, producer, editor and music composer.
2023 | The Fifth Generation | Spielfilm | |
2025 | Modern Women | Spielfilm | 2025 |
“This heavily satirical comedy finalizes my unplanned trilogy of narrative and experimental punk rock features on Brexit, climate activism, and now the housing crisis. MODERN WOMEN’s meta-modernist three-storyline structure allowed me to explore the themes of power, brutality, and exploitation (what else should films be about these days?) from three different perspectives, with each perspective bringing its own stylistic nuance. The storyline of the Truth Ruth character, ‘the street poet’, works as a documentary. Monica’s ‘single mother’ storyline is a cinema verité drama. And finally, the ‘Lily, Lola & Isis’ storyline, being that of the three bourgeois girls who find out they’re getting kicked out of their hipster flat, is presented as an all-out formalist satire with a touch of surrealism. Adjectives and definitions aside, there is emotion in MODERN WOMEN. A lot of emotion; otherwise, the film wouldn’t be here. Though partly due to a script that took two years to write, it is mainly thanks to our wonderful cast of thespians. Come and see this MODERN WOMEN, and men!”