The Black Hand

Three former classmates who once ran a mischievous secret club called The Black Hand meet again after years apart. Back in school they made teachers' lives awkward with pranks and petty schemes. Now their adult paths couldn't be more different: one drifts on his family's money and halfhearted routines, another writes spy novels and claims he's being hunted by intelligence agents, and the third prefers an easy, listless existence. When they reconnect, the old pact and appetite for trouble return, and their revived antics start to ripple through the small circles that surround them, mixing nostalgia, awkward humor, and unexpected complications without resolving every past grievance.

Released in 1980, the film was directed by Fernando Colomo and created by Fernando Trueba, featuring Antonio Resines, Carmen Maura, Joaquín Hinojosa and Íñigo Gurrea among the cast, placing it within Spain's post-Franco cinema of the era.

Box office records for the movie aren't well documented, and it didn't register as a major commercial hit. It remained a modest entry in Spanish cinema, more of a niche offering than a mainstream success.

Critical response has been limited and generally lukewarm, reflected in a low average score from a small number of votes. The film leans into themes of aging, the persistence of adolescent mischief, and how old loyalties survive uneven lives, using comedy to undercut romanticized memories rather than to flatten them.

While not widely remembered internationally, the movie is notable for early performances by Carmen Maura and Antonio Resines, actors who later rose to greater prominence. Colomo's direction and the screenplay's wink at youthful rebellion give it a modest place in discussions about transitional Spanish films, especially among viewers interested in the careers of its cast.