Magical Girl

Magical Girl (titled La niña de fuego in France) is a 2014 neo-noir film written and directed by Carlos Vermut, and starring Bárbara Lennie, Luis Bermejo and José Sacristán. The plot tracks the events triggered by the decision of a father (Bermejo) to fulfill the secret wish of his dying 12-year-old otaku daughter (Pollán). A Spanish-French co-production, the film made its world premiere at the 39th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014, also screening at the 62nd San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Shell for Best Film and the Silver Shell for Best Director. Lennie also won the Goya Award for Best Actress for her performance. Plot A math teacher reprimands a student named Bárbara for a note she purportedly wrote. After insulting the teacher, Bárbara plays a handtrick illusion on the teacher with the note. A girl dancing to the sound of Japanese music faints in her bedroom. A man sells his belongings (books) at a used goods store and looks with interest at a jewelry store's display window, later arriving home to find the girl, Alicia, lying unconscious on the floor. Back home from the hospital, the man (Luis, Alicia's father), grants Alicia (known as Yukiko in her otaku circle) a number of wishes. Upon reading Alicia's diary, Luis commits to gifting Alicia a Magical Girl Yukiko costume costing €6,845, and asks a bar owner (Marisol) for money in order to satisfy the secret wish of his 12-year-old daughter Alicia (sick with leukemia). A desperate Luis decides to break the aforementioned shop window glass, but vomit falls on him from above just before breaking it.