Painless

Painless is a 2012 fantasy horror film and the feature film directorial debut of Juan Carlos Medina. The film is a joint production between Spain, France, and Portugal and had its world premiere on 8 September 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival. Painless is set in Catalonia and follows two different story lines, one set during the Spanish Civil War and one set in the modern day. Synopsis The film's premise is partially set in 1931 during the Spanish Civil War, where a group of children are brought to a monastery turned hospital for medical testing. None of the children are capable of feeling physical pain, something that Dr. Holzmann (Derek de Lint) hopes to remedy with his procedures. However at the same time his colleague Dr. Carcedo (Ramon Fontserè) believes that the children would be better off locked up in his asylum in Canfranc. One young patient named Benigno (played at different ages by Ilias and Mot Stothart) stands out in particular, as he proves to be exceptionally intelligent but also easily prone to violent outbursts - something that Carcedo believes is further proof of his beliefs. Benigno while in his cell realizes that a little girl he met and cared for is in the cell next to his but the walls are thick. One day he steals a spoon and digs everyday for 4 years until he makes a big enough hole to see her and eventually reach her. Holzmann's plans of finding a remedy for the children is never brought to fruition, as the hospital is besieged and taken over by several different military forces. The movie is also set during modern day, where David (Àlex Brendemühl) has woken up in a hospital to discover that he had been in a serious automobile accident. His pregnant wife (who had been riding in the car with him) did not survive the crash but the doctors did manage to save the baby, who is now being housed in another floor of the hospital. To add to his misery, the doctors inform David that scans of his body has revealed that he has lymphoma and requires a bone marrow transplant if he is to have any chance of survival. David turns to his parents in hopes that one of them can donate their marrow, only to learn that he was adopted. From there, David sets out to find his biological parents, a process that inevitably leads him to the hospital that was run by Holzmann and Carcedo.