Magical Girl 2014
Directed by
Carlos Vermut
Made by
Aquí y Allí Films
Magical Girl Plot Summary
Read the complete plot summary and ending explained for Magical Girl (2014). From turning points to emotional moments, uncover what really happened and why it matters.
A math teacher reprimands a student named Bárbara for a note she purportedly wrote. After insulting the teacher, she performs a hand-trick illusion with the note.
A girl dancing to the sound of Japanese music faints in her bedroom. A man sells his belongings (books) at a used goods store and looks with interest at a jewelry store’s display window, later arriving home to find the girl, Alicia, lying unconscious on the floor.
Back home from the hospital, the man Luis, Alicia’s father, grants Alicia, known as Yukiko in her otaku circle, a number of wishes. Upon reading Alicia’s diary, he commits to gifting Alicia a Magical Girl Yukiko costume costing €6,845, and asks a bar owner Marisol for money to satisfy the secret wish of his 12-year-old daughter.
A desperate Luis decides to break the aforementioned shop window glass, but vomit falls on him from above just before breaking it. A man and a woman, Bárbara, discuss in their bedroom, after which Bárbara pretends to ingest her medication. After taking a friend’s baby in her arms, Bárbara jokes with throwing the baby out of the window. Bárbara wakes up at night and hurts her forehead with a mirror. After ingesting alcohol and pills, she vomits out the window on Luis, and invites him to her apartment so he can take a shower. Upon learning that Bárbara’s husband is a rich psychiatrist and after presenting himself as an unemployed literature teacher named Pedro, [Luis] has sex with Bárbara.
After claiming to have recorded them having sex with his phone, Luis blackmails Bárbara into getting him €7,000, threatening her with telling her husband. Bárbara asks a madam named Ada for money, offering to prostitute herself, thereby getting a one-time job without penetration at Óliver Zoco’s residence. Taken to a remote mansion by a chauffeur-driven car, Bárbara is asked there to remove her clothes and to remember a BDSM safeword (‘hojalata’) before entering a room.
Luis asks Bárbara to leave the money inside a Spanish Constitution book hosted in a public library near Puerta de Toledo. After gifting the dress to Alicia, Luis finds out that the set is missing the scepter, sold as an add-on. Luis then blackmails Bárbara again into giving him another €20,000. Bárbara offers to do a job behind Óliver’s black lizard door, where unspeakable things are done, discouragement by Ada notwithstanding.
Introduced as [Damián], the teacher from the opening scene (now an old man) does not want to leave prison, because he is afraid of seeing Bárbara again. Damián finds a badly wounded Bárbara lying on the stairs of his apartment and takes her in, calling an ambulance. Bárbara asks Damián to leave the Constitution in the public library. Bárbara’s husband, introduced as [Alfredo], thanks Damián for taking care of his wife. At the hospital, Bárbara falsely suggests to Damián that she has been raped by her blackmailer.
After obtaining a gun, Damián follows Luis into a bar, introduces himself to him as a man sent to prison for having helped Bárbara, and provides Luis with the gun so he can kill him in plain sight, threatening to kill Luis’ family otherwise. Failing to believe Luis’s version of the events and convinced that Luis raped Bárbara, Damián kills Luis and the two other witnesses at the bar. Damián goes to Luis apartment to look for the latter’s phone, meeting Alicia, fully dressed with the Yukiko Magical Girl dress and holding the scepter. Damián shoots her. Damián visits Bárbara and tells her that he has taken care of everything, playing on her the same trick with the phone that she played on him with the note years ago.
Magical Girl Timeline
Follow the complete movie timeline of Magical Girl (2014) with every major event in chronological order. Great for understanding complex plots and story progression.
Bárbara's note and the hand trick
A math teacher reprimands Bárbara for a note she claims to have written. She responds with insults and then performs a hand-trick illusion using the note to humiliate him.
Alicia faints during a dance
A girl named Alicia dances to the rhythm of Japanese music in her bedroom and suddenly faints, foreshadowing the emotional and health stakes to come.
Alicia is found unconscious
Luis, who has been selling his books at a used-goods shop, returns home to find Alicia lying unconscious on the floor, initiating a crisis that leads to medical care.
Luis vows to fulfill Alicia's wishes
Back from the hospital, Luis promises to grant Alicia a number of wishes, setting in motion plans that center on her wellbeing and happiness.
Diary spurs a costly gift and fundraising
Reading Alicia's diary, Luis commits to buying a €6,845 Magical Girl Yukiko costume and asks Marisol, a bar owner, for money to satisfy his daughter's wish.
Desperation leads to a failed plan
In a moment of desperation, Luis considers breaking a shop window to raise funds, but he vomits just before he can act, derailing the attempt.
Bárbara and Luis's tense confrontation
In their bedroom, Bárbara and Luis discuss their situation; Bárbara then pretends to ingest her medication, signaling her unstable state and willingness to manipulate.
A dangerous joke about the baby
Bárbara, holding a friend's baby, jokes about throwing the infant out of the window, revealing a volatile, morally compromised mindset.
A night of distress and an invitation
Bárbara wakes at night, injures her forehead with a mirror, then, after drinking and taking pills, vomits onto Luis and invites him to her apartment so he can take a shower.
A sexual encounter under a false identity
Luis, posing as an unemployed literature teacher named Pedro, has sex with Bárbara after learning her husband is a wealthy psychiatrist.
Criminal leverage via a recording
After claiming to have recorded their encounter, Luis uses the video to blackmail Bárbara into paying €7,000, threatening to reveal the affair to her husband.
Ada and the shady job offer
Bárbara seeks money from Ada, agreeing to a one-time non-penetrative job at Óliver Zoco's residence to raise funds for her troubles.
A remote mansion and a safeword
Bárbara is taken by car to a remote mansion where she is instructed to remove her clothes and memorize the BDSM safeword 'hojalata' before entering a room.
Money hidden in the Constitution book
Luis asks Bárbara to stash the money inside a Spanish Constitution book at a public library near Puerta de Toledo, tying the scheme to a public space.
Final reckoning and vengeance
Damián, the former teacher from the opening scene, returns as an avenger and shoots Luis and two witnesses in a bar. He then goes to Luis's apartment and shoots Alicia in the Yukiko dress before visiting Bárbara to repeat the old trick with the phone, claiming to have settled everything.
Magical Girl Characters
Explore all characters from Magical Girl (2014). Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained.
Bárbara Lennie as Bárbara
Bárbara is a woman whose vulnerabilities mask a calculating mind, using flirtation and threats to influence men and secure money. Her actions blur the line between victim and villain, revealing a morally ambiguous figure. Her relationship with her wealthy husband and with Luis exposes a complex moral landscape, pushing the plot toward violence and collapse.
Luis Bermejo as Luis
Luis is a desperate father who will break rules to save his daughter, Alicia. He sells his belongings and uses blackmail to try to secure funds, illustrating how far a loving parent will go in a crisis. His decisions are marked by a troubling blend of love, desperation and moral ambiguity, culminating in violent consequences.
Lucía Pollán as Alicia
Alicia is a 12-year-old girl with leukemia who becomes the focus of adult schemes. She imagines herself as Yukiko the magical girl, a fantasy that shapes how others behave around her. Her illness and the attention she draws trigger a chain of decisions by parents and others, leading toward tragedy.
José Sacristán as Damián
Damián is an older teacher with a history of prison time who becomes entangled in the escalating plot. He is capable of deception and violence, using manipulation to control events and people. His actions culminate in deadly violence, and his final manipulation of Bárbara echoes the film’s themes of revenge and moral ambiguity.
Israel Elejalde as Alfredo
Alfredo is Bárbara's wealthy husband, a psychiatrist whose status contrasts with the couple's dangerous games. He is shown as the husband and beneficiary of Bárbara’s actions, and later is depicted as grateful to others who protect his wife. His presence underscores themes of power, privilege, and the fragility of family life.
Toña Medina as Ada
Ada is a madam who helps fund the schemes by arranging money through prostitution, revealing a seedy underground economy. She operates with practical detachment, accepting moral compromise for financial gain. Her role highlights how desperation intersects with exploitation in the film's world.
Miquel Insúa as Oliver
Oliver runs a remote mansion and hosts the scene where Bárbara’s clothes are removed, suggesting a dangerous underworld. He represents control and the lure of secret rituals, with his establishment acting as a setting for coercive power. His presence deepens the film’s exploration of fetishized power and danger.
Magical Girl Settings
Learn where and when Magical Girl (2014) takes place. Explore the film’s settings, era, and how they shape the narrative.
Time period
Present day
The events unfold in contemporary Spain, where smartphones, online records and social expectations influence actions. The timeline appears to unfold over days as debts accumulate and plans escalate toward violence. The story relies on modern means—phones, texts and videos—to reveal or conceal truth.
Location
Madrid, Spain
The action unfolds in modern Madrid, a dense urban landscape where private lives collide with public spaces. Key locations include a neighborhood library near Puerta de Toledo, bars, and a private mansion that becomes the site of dangerous games. The city itself acts as a pressure cooker for debt, manipulation and moral compromise that drive the plot.
Magical Girl Themes
Discover the main themes in Magical Girl (2014). Analyze the deeper meanings, emotional layers, and social commentary behind the film.
🗝️
Secrets and manipulation
A web of secrets drives the plot: blackmail, favors traded for money, and carefully staged images. Luis and Bárbara maneuver each other through lies and calculated moves to secure outcomes for themselves. The diary, the costume wish and the hidden debts all serve to blur who holds power. The film constantly tests who can be trusted, and under what price.
💔
Betrayal and consequences
Lies pile on top of lies until violence becomes the only answer. Damián’s misreadings and Luis’s desperation propel a chain of deadly decisions. The murders at the bar and the final act with Alicia reveal how private grievances explode into public ruin. The narrative leaves moral accountability unsettled, with no clean solution for anyone involved.
🎭
Identity and performance
Characters assume different identities to gain control or escape danger: Luis pretends to be Pedro, Alicia adopts Yukiko, Bárbara hides vulnerability behind a composed surface. The magical girl costume and other disguises symbolize the power people crave and the personas they adopt. The film suggests identity can be as much a weapon as a shield, with dangerous consequences when performances intersect with real lives.
Magical Girl Spoiler-Free Summary
Discover the spoiler-free summary of Magical Girl (2014). Get a concise overview without any spoilers.
In a sprawling, neon‑lit city where everyday life hums beneath a veil of untold corners, a quiet, unassuming family faces an impossible deadline. Luis, a devoted father and modest schoolteacher, watches his beloved daughter Alicia battle a terminal illness that has turned each day into a fragile gift. Their home, filled with soft music and the glow of anime posters, feels both a sanctuary and a reminder of the world beyond the hospital windows.
Alicia lives in two worlds at once—her reality as a teenage girl fighting a cruel disease, and the vibrant fantasy of the Japanese series she adores, where magical heroines wield bright costumes and glittering scepters. Her final wish is simple yet extraordinary: to own the elusive Magical Girl Yukiko costume, a rare collector’s item that costs more than the family could ever imagine. The costume, a symbol of hope and escapism, becomes the focal point of her lingering days, a talisman that could let her shine, even if just for a moment, in the universe she loves.
Driven by love and desperation, Luis steps out of his ordinary routine and into the hidden tapestry of the city’s undercurrents. What begins as a quest for a single, priceless garment quickly maps the darker, less visible lanes of the metropolis—places where the ordinary meets the uncanny, and where strangers carry their own silent burdens. The tone balances tender melancholy with a gritty urban pulse, inviting viewers to feel the city’s secret rhythm as it mirrors the father’s internal storm.
As he navigates this shadowed landscape, Luis encounters subtle obstacles and unexpected allies, each hinting at the complex web of desire, sacrifice, and hidden stories that pulse beneath the surface. The journey promises a profound meditation on how far a parent will go to grant a child’s last dream, and what whispers of the city’s unseen world can be heard when love becomes the only compass.
Featured on this page
What's After the Movie?
Not sure whether to stay after the credits? Find out!
Explore Our Movie Platform
New Movie Releases (2026)
Famous Movie Actors
Top Film Production Studios
Movie Plot Summaries & Endings
Major Movie Awards & Winners
Best Concert Films & Music Documentaries
Movie Collections and Curated Lists
© 2026 What's After the Movie. All rights reserved.