Decorado

In the City of Anywhere, a world that runs on the clock of the ALMA corporation, the everyday atmosphere feels staged, as if the city itself were a vast decorado. Arnold [Asier Hormaza] Mouse has not held a real job in years, subsisting on prescription medicines produced by ALMA while his wife, Maria [Aintzane Gamiz], works as a cartoonist to keep them afloat. The couple faces an imminent eviction notice from the ALMA-run bank, a stark reminder that their lives are tightly tied to the company’s rules and rhythms. As the pressure mounts, Arnold begins to fear that everything around him might be artificial, a set piece designed for others to perform rather than for them to live.

Arnold’s sense of reality fractures further when he visits his closest friends, Ramiro [Ander Vildósola Gala] Ramiro Rat and Crazy Chicken [Jon Allen]. Ramiro touts the possibility of slipping away through the nearby forest, hinting at a possible escape from Anywhere. The trio ventures into the woods, stepping into a world that includes a homeless colony of former ALMA workers, a harp-playing devil, and a mermaid whose top half is fish-like. This eerie trek culminates in tragedy when a giant owl dismantles their path of escape by attacking and killing Ramiro. At Ramiro’s funeral, police dogs inexplicably arrest Crazy Chicken for wildfires that the dogs themselves had sparked, a disturbing sign that the city’s mechanisms of control are everywhere, including within the very rituals surrounding loss and crime.

Back in corporate life, Mr. Gregory, the deputy director of ALMA, calls Maria to discuss a possible reprieve for debt and even offers her a job at ALMA’s newspaper. Yet his motives are complex and coercive, pressing Maria to leave Arnold behind. The tension intensifies when Depression the Fairy appears, attaching herself to Maria and conjuring memories of a hopeful past when both Mice once had factory jobs before they were fired for painting anti-ALMA graffiti. Depression plants doubt about Maria’s talents and sows distrust of Arnold, and Maria’s anger toward Depression ultimately leads to the fairy’s temporary destruction. The encounter leaves Maria with a wound and a warning from Depression’s sisters—Anguish and Anxiety—that they will return to haunt her.

A chance encounter with Roni Duck—a former favorite ALMA star who now appears to have fallen on hard times—sparks further questions about the nature of reality. At first, Arnold encounters Roni in the streets as a drug addict, only to discover days later that Roni is working as a real estate agent trying to sell Ramiro’s abandoned house. A TV documentary about Roni’s supposed next film then contradicts this reality, deepening Arnold’s suspicion that the life he’s living may be a carefully crafted illusion. In response, he discards his drugs and vows to uncover the truth behind Ramiro’s supposed escape.

Driven by clues hidden in Ramiro’s home, Arnold finds a map that Ramiro drew, which seems to chart a route beyond Anywhere. He ventures again into the forest, braving a harsh landscape where escape seems almost impossible. A mountain hermit with a flock of wild goats explains that what lies beyond the mountains is death itself. Later, Arnold encounters Mr. Mushroom, an ALMA salesman who proposes a radical plan: steal the devil’s harp and use its power to return Ramiro as a ghost. Ghost Ramiro remembers another potential path glimpsed just beyond the giant owl’s nest before he died. However, ALMA sends police dogs after Ghost Ramiro, and Mr. Mushroom is demoted to sewer work for attempting to pass the harp off as an ALMA product. In a crucial turn, Mr. Mushroom discovers that Arnold has stopped taking his prescribed medicines.

Maria’s fury grows as she learns that Arnold is sheltering Ghost Ramiro in their attic, and she ultimately leaves Arnold to be with Gregorio [Iñaki Beraetxe]. The heartbreak devastates Arnold, and the house falls into disrepair. ALMA responds with a spy disguised as Ghost Ramiro to infiltrate Arnold’s home, but Arnold defeats the intruder and uses the disguise to slip into ALMA headquarters. There, he uncovers a network of neighbors who have been collaborating with ALMA to surveil him. Enraged and isolated, Arnold flees back into the forest and climbs to a high cliff overlooking the city, where he contemplates death as a way out. Just as he is about to leap, Maria appears, having left Gregory for him. She vows to stand by her husband, and the two decide to rebuild their lives together.

Weeks pass, and it seems the Mice have rejoined the system that governs Anywhere. Maria finds steady work at ALMA’s newspaper, Crazy Chicken is exonerated, and Arnold regains his factory job. Gregory even awards him a chance to speak at the grand opening of ALMA’s new housing development. Yet Arnold secretly plans an escape with Maria, Mr. Mushroom, and Ghost Ramiro, a plan that remains hidden from the public eye. When Arnold fails to attend the speech, the city turns against them, and Crazy Chicken ignites a fire to slow their pursuers.

Their ascent ends at the giant owl’s nest, where Gregory holds the owl on a leash. Arnold argues that love is the only truly real force and that their group is united by that bond. The owl acknowledges the point and turns on Gregory, allowing the escape to continue. The group discovers a landscape that seems beautiful at first glance, only to reveal that the buildings, flora, and sounds are all props and machines in a vast theater of illusions. Maria finally admits that Arnold’s view—“we are living in a decorado”—may indeed be correct. The message resonates as Roni Duck steps into the frame and declares that, while it may be a decorado, it is “our decorado.” The entire cast joins hands in a chorus of belief, and the curtain falls as Arnold and Maria, trembling but hopeful, face an uncertain but shared future, bound by their love and by the idea that even a staged world can be a place where real connections endure.