The Last Circus

Set in Spain during and after the Civil War, The Last Circus follows Javier, the son of a republican militia clown who is forced into battle in his stage costume. Years later, under Franco's dictatorship, Javier takes work as a sad clown in a circus, where he meets Sergio, a brutal and unstable happy clown, and Natalia, a trapeze artist. The two clowns become locked in a violent rivalry over her, a conflict that pushes Javier toward cruelty he could not have foreseen.

Álex de la Iglesia directed and wrote the film, the seventh of the thirteen features he has directed in chronological order, arriving between The Oxford Murders and Witching & Bitching. Carlos Areces plays Javier, Carolina Bang is Natalia, and Antonio de la Torre plays Sergio, with Santiago Segura appearing as Javier's father. The cast runs to 49 credited performers. Shot as a co-production between Spain, France, Italy and Belgium, the film cost about 7 million dollars and returned roughly 4 million worldwide.

On IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from around 16,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.7 from roughly 460 votes. A critics' rating of 6.6 from 34 reviews places it close to the audience scores.