‘Deaf’ is a moving and intoxicating Spanish film that explores disability from multiple perspectives. At its centre is Ángela, a deaf woman who has lived her entire life with the condition and who fears – subconsciously if not overtly – that her child may also be born deaf. When her daughter is born hearing, Ángela’s world shifts in unexpected ways. Her husband Héctor gradually redirects his attention and affection toward the child, leaving Ángela feeling increasingly isolated and marginalized.

In the early scenes, the couple’s intimacy is grounded in their shared use of sign language. But over time, Héctor forgets to sign when playing with his daughter in the park, further excluding Ángela from their interactions. The film takes its time, spanning years – from pregnancy through birth and into the child’s early life. The uncertainty about whether the daughter can hear, with inconclusive test results, adds a subtle tension to the family dynamic.

What is striking is the absence of villains. Héctor is not cruel or abusive, yet his lack of empathy wounds just as deeply. His wonder at his daughter’s ability to hear, expressed again and again, becomes a constant reminder of Ángela’s difference and drives a wedge between them. The film’s most powerful moment comes near the end, when we experience the world through Ángela’s perspective: sound is muffled, as though underwater, and the hearing world becomes a blur of noise and exclusion.

Alongside its exploration of disability, ‘Deaf’ is also a film about parenthood, with all its pressures and fragilities. Any new baby can strain a relationship, but here those pressures are magnified, intertwined with questions of identity, communication, and belonging. The film never loses sight of warmth, however, portraying Ángela’s supportive community of deaf friends and the resilience she finds there.

Tender, empathetic, and quietly devastating, ‘Deaf’ illuminates not only the challenges of living between two worlds – hearing and non-hearing – but also the precariousness of intimacy, and the ways in which love can falter when empathy is lost.