4/5 stars It should come as no surprise to learn that Julio Blanco, the eponymous factory owner played by Javier Bardem in Fernando León de Aranoa’s award-winning satire The Good Boss , is anything but good. Manipulative, duplicitous, self-serving and immoral, Blanco steadily reveals to us that he is willing to do whatever it takes, including burning decades-long friendships and jeopardising his own marriage, to safeguard the future of his business. The Good Boss bagged a record-breaking 20 nominations at the 2022 Goya Awards – Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars – winning six, including best film, director and actor. It was also submitted as the country’s official entry at this year’s Academy Awards. Blanco is a respected pillar of the provincial Spanish community where his business manufacturing industrial scales is a major source of employment. He prides himself on running a company built on hard work, loyalty and equality, where all his employees – regardless of their background – are treated as family. A figure reminiscent of Don Corleone in The Godfather , everyone comes to Blanco for help, whether to help get a wayward child out of jail, or to help save a colleague’s failing marriage. But Blanco’s benevolent nature is put to the test when he learns that Blanco Scales is in the running for a prestigious award, and a committee of inspectors are on their way. One disgruntled former employee (Óscar de la Fuente) sets up camp outside the factory gates to protest against his unfair dismissal. Another (Manolo Solo) enters a spiral of self-destruction after his wife asks for “some air” in their relationship. Blanco himself pursues a coquettish new intern, Liliana (Almudena Amor), only for his predatory flirtation to backfire in spectacular fashion. All the while, he must also deal with the factory falling behind on its orders, an ineffectual security guard, simmering racial tensions within the community, and his own irrepressible ego. The Good Boss takes its time to show its hand, laying out the many players and their intersecting stories carefully and deliberately and building momentum slowly towards a second half fuelled by cataclysmic, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious chaos. León de Aranoa’s impeccable writing and restrained direction work in harmony with Bardem’s pitch-perfect performance, as Blanco’s tenuous grip on his position of power and authority slips steadily through his poop-smeared fingers. Bardem has rarely been as funny or self-deprecating as he is here, spearheading an impeccable ensemble cast that introduces the mesmerising 28-year-old actress Almudena Amor, in what is sure to be a star-making turn. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook