Ainara BASCUÑANA

Head of Communication

Painfully contemporary

On the fringe
Movie by Juan Diego Botto, 2022

During On the Fringe, I spent my whole time remembering the hardest moments of the economic crisis that started in 2008: unemployment, evictions, bankruptcy, precariousness and poverty. And to help deal with those painful memories, I kept telling myself, ‘Fortunately, things are better now, the worst is behind us’. That is why probably one of the most distressing moments comes in the epilogue: “Today (2022, Spain), 100 evictions occur every day. And 400,000 have taken place in the last decade”. 

On the Fringe is a Spanish-Belgian social thriller that tells the interwoven story of various characters over the course of 24 dramatic hours. The common thread is evictions, debt, unemployment, precariousness, poverty, and desperation. A mother of a five-year-old child about to lose her home; a migrant young mother juggling several jobs who is about to lose custody of her child; a ruined entrepreneur whose mother – who co-signed his loan – is about to be evicted; and a well-meaning lawyer fighting against the system, the saviour who cannot save himself. It also portrays citizens’ solidarity and activism within a crippled welfare state.

This is Juan Diego Botto’s first film, and it is certainly not to be missed. Co-written with journalist Olga Rodríguez and with superb performances by Penélope Cruz and Luis Tosar, it is a painful but necessary reminder for all progressive thinkers, policymakers and activists that an increasingly large part of society is facing these kinds of hardships and that we must continue fighting against them  – especially in the current context of a growing far-right gaining increasing access to governing bodies.

The film is also definite viewing for those who are frightened by an alleged security and squatting problem in Spain, and who are regularly urged by the right and far-right to install a security system in their homes. Indeed there are currently non-stop advertisements in the mainstream media from security companies that have managed to set the agenda. The real housing problem is not the  threat of squatting, however, but the fact that too large a part of society simply cannot afford a roof over their heads – a basic human right. 

The action occurs in Orcasitas, a working-class neighbourhood in Madrid, but it could be anywhere in Europe. It would be a mistake to think that the story of On the Fringe has to do with a specific context and a specific place. Capitalism, speculation and the search for profit have no frontiers and must be controlled.

The dictionary defines ‘fringe’ as “the border or outer edges of an area or group”. Sadly, and wrongly, we seem to have accepted that a small part of society will always live ‘on the fringe’. Nevertheless, with inequalities increasing across Europe, the risk is that – unless we stop them – the edges will keep widening and getting more blurred until they are no longer edges.