Barrio 1998

In Madrid, during a sun-drenched summer, three 15-year-olds—Manu, Javi, and Rai—spill into the neighborhood with wide-eyed dreams of romance and distant horizons, even as their families struggle to make ends meet and the city hums with heat and possibility.

Their days unfold under the weight of separate burdens: Manu misses his deceased mother and his brother Rafa, whom his father insists is a successful businessman traveling abroad; Javi lives with his sister Susana, their quarrelsome parents, and a deaf grandfather; Rai, who often steals from cars and shops, is secretly drawn to Susana, creating a complicated web of loyalty and longing. Manu begins working as a delivery driver, hiding the truth from his boss about owning a motorbike so he can attempt deliveries by bus, hoping to stretch their resources a little further. Rai and Javi decide to steal yogurt from a supermarket, drawn by a brand that promises a paid vacation, a prize that seems almost within reach but ultimately feels out of reach in their rough-edged neighborhood.

One day the trio steals a bouquet from a graveyard and tries to hawk it at a bar, chasing a small thrill that momentarily eases the tension at home. Rai attempts to flirt with a girl but is confronted by her boyfriend, forcing them to retreat. The next morning, Rai is notified by mail that he has won the prize, only to discover that it is a jet ski—totally useless for their surroundings—and it ends up chained to a streetlight outside Rai’s apartment. The prospect of something flashy to brighten their summer becomes a running joke, even as the joke begins to wear thin.

To lift Rai’s spirits and inspired by the jet ski, Javi and Manu stage a mock tropical-themed party. They later visit Rai’s brother, a night watchman at an apartment complex, who has promised to show them his gun. The brother leaves to meet his girlfriend, and Manu and Javi, observing through CCTV, momentarily blur the boundaries between curiosity and mischief. Rai’s attempt to shock them with a pretend gunplay turns unsettling, and the mood sours as they realize how quickly danger can spill into their lives.

Another day, Manu is startled when his father unexpectedly boards a bus. Manu hides in the rear, but his father abruptly disembarks at a deserted clearing, a moment that foreshadows deeper fractures at home. Meanwhile, Susana tearfully reveals that their mother has filed a restraining order against their father, a sign of the chronic strain and violence that shadow the family. When the trio reunites, they are arrested by the police, and Rai’s involvement in drugs is exposed, sending him to a night in jail and forcing him to lie about his whereabouts to his family.

Javi visits his father, who is now divorced and living in a van, and comes to terms with the fragility of what they once had, accepting responsibility for his own share of their family’s breakdown. Manu, meanwhile, asks for a birthday wish to be shared with his father, a moment that underscores the fragile ties that still connect them. That night, the friends celebrate Manu’s birthday at a disco, stumble upon a shantytown, venture into the metro tunnels, and rob a trophy store, pushing the boundaries of their adolescence and their sense of right and wrong.

Back home, the jet ski remains a hollow symbol of luck, and Manu discovers a watch on his bed—an expensive gift from his brother that also appears in a local sales store, prompting questions about where it came from and what it means. Suspicion leads Manu to trace the path his father took the previous day, only to find Rafa living in a slum as a heroin addict, a revelation that shatters the boy’s faith in family and success but also deepens his resolve to keep fighting for some kind of connection with his brother.

Rai heads to Javi’s home to see Susana, and when she prepares, Rai makes a desperate grab for a car radio. A police officer confronts him, points a gun, and Rai does not comply—merely being shot in the confrontation. Javi reunites with Manu at the metro and breaks down, while a local news broadcast reports that a minor has been killed, casting a pall over the summer’s bright possibilities and sealing the trio’s fates in a moment of abrupt, painful consequence.