La playa vacía

Victoria is a widowed owner of a seaside motel who dreads another lonely winter and decides to change the routine by bringing a younger man into the business. She asks Pablo to become her business partner and live on the property, while he insists on staying independent and keeping his romantic freedom. Soon after Pablo settles in, Gloria arrives, a striking biologist claiming she's researching a book. Her easy knowledge of Victoria's past unsettles Pablo and shifts the motel's balance, as loyalties, desires and buried histories start to surface without revealing how it all ends. Victoria's offer is practical, she wants company and help to keep the place running, while Pablo's casual terms slowly feed jealousy and competition among three.

Released in 1977, La playa vacía was directed by Roberto Gavaldón from a screenplay by Jaime Salom and Enrique Barreiro, and notably stars Amparo Rivelles, Jorge Rivero and Pilar Velázquez, with Alfredo Calles and veteran Luis Ciges in supporting roles.

Reliable box office figures for La playa vacía are scarce, and it did not register as a major commercial hit; the film has remained relatively obscure in wider circulation and exhibition, with likely limited theatrical runs beyond its initial market.

The movie never reached wide fame, but it captures a specific coastal atmosphere and period attitudes toward relationships, offering scholars and niche viewers a window into late 1970s Spanish-language cinema. Its character work and seaside setting have some cult appeal among enthusiasts of that era, and its performances reward viewers.

Critical and audience response has been limited and leans negative, reflected by a low average rating based on a handful of votes. The film centers on loneliness, shifting power in relationships, sexual autonomy and the weight of past secrets, favoring mood and character over action. It's a slow, observational piece.