Retired bank manager Emilio, suffering from Alzheimer’s, is taken to an assisted living home by his son. Confused and disoriented by his new surroundings, he finds unexpected support in his roommate Miguel, a brash rogue and overconfident ladies’ man. Together, they employ clever tricks to keep the doctors from noticing Emilio’s ongoing deterioration — and keep him from being transferred to the dreaded confinement of the top floor of the facility. (“Better to die than to end up there.”) Their determination to stay active as individuals and maintain their dignity culminates in a nighttime escape and joyride and adds a dash of adventure to their otherwise tedious day-to-day routine. While for some residents, the home is a place to wind down their lives, for Emilio and Miguel it becomes, in a quirky way, a new beginning.
With echoes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Cocoon, Paco Roca squarely addresses the fears of growing old and isolated in a work infused with remarkable humor, humanity, and sensitivity. Wrinkles was adapted into an award-winning international animated film in 2011, with Martin Sheen and Matthew Modine voicing the main characters in the English version. Wrinkles swept all the top Spanish comics awards, including the National Comics Award and Best Spanish Comic Strip and won Italy’s Gran Guinigi Award. Paco Roca won the Goya Award for his screenplay adaptation for the animated film, in addition to other international awards for his work as a comics artist.
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