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The Fantastic Golem Affairs (2023) movie poster

Timeline

The Fantastic Golem Affairs (2023) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2023 · 98 mins · Spanish
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Directed by
Juan González, Burnin’ Percebes
Starring
Roberto Álamo, Bruna Cusí, Javier Botet, Luis Tosar, David Menéndez, Anna Castillo

After an intense party in Madrid, Juan finds himself on a rooftop terrace with his friend David. He witnesses a shocking event: David falls from the terrace, his body inexplicably disintegrating into ceramic fragments upon impact with a parked car. The unsettling incident leaves Juan grappling with the bizarre and disturbing nature of what he has seen.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (15)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like The Fantastic Golem Affairs
  6. 6 Every angle
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15 events in order · contains spoilers

The Fantastic Golem Affairs Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of The Fantastic Golem Affairs (2023) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Rooftop game ends in tragedy

    Two male friends play a guess-the-movie game on a rooftop. After guessing The Shining and Alive, the third round ends with one friend stripping, mimicking a monkey, and leaping off the edge, shattering into pieces on a car beneath. The survivor, Juan, watches the catastrophic accident unfold.

    Where
    Rooftop
  2. David's funeral attended by Juan, his father, and Clara

    The surviving friend attends David's funeral alongside David's father, Toni, and Clara. The event marks the community's attempt to seek closure after an inexplicable accident.

    Where
    Funeral site
  3. Funeral bill arrives

    Left alone after the ceremony, Juan receives the bill for the funerary services. The moment underscores the cold, bureaucratic handling of personal tragedy.

    Where
    Juan's home
  4. Juan testifies to the police

    Juan recounts the rooftop incident to a pair of police agents, detailing the sequence of events that led to David's shattering. His testimony marks the beginning of formal scrutiny surrounding the accident.

    Where
    Police station
  5. Juan seeks others' experiences online

    Back home, Juan posts on social media asking if anyone else has witnessed something like a best friend's shattering. The online search for others' experiences broadens the narrative's eerie implications.

    Where
    Online
  6. Insurance investigator arrives

    The next morning, an insurance worker informs Juan that he is responsible for damage to a vehicle that David allegedly crashed onto. The confrontation shifts the story toward liability and the mystery surrounding the golem-like events.

    When
    Next morning
    Where
    Juan's apartment
  7. Maria Pons replies online

    An online reply from Maria Pons confirms she has also experienced a shattering event. Her comment links Juan's situation to a broader, uncanny pattern.

    Where
    Online
  8. Juan visits Filtro; possessions registered to him

    Juan visits David's friend Filtro and, after a tense moment, learns that every possession of David is registered in Juan's name. The revelation binds Juan personally to David's life and complicates ideas of inheritance and guilt.

    Where
    Filtro's location
  9. DEP death algorithm explained

    Juan's dad and Clara visit the DEP offices with other funeral attendees and are told that the death algorithm is broken, seemingly forcing the same fate upon everyone via piano crushing. The explanation exposes a chilling bureaucratic system behind the personal tragedies.

    Where
    DEP offices
  10. Father reveals commission and coercion

    During conversations about David and the future, Juan's father reveals he commissioned David as a golem for Juan when he was a child, and hints that tradition may require Juan to kill him. The revelation deepens the conflict between family, power, and control.

    Where
    DEP offices
  11. Maria's second date ends in tragedy

    Juan dates Maria; on their second date, Maria begins to share more about her shattered stepfather, and she dies by piano crushing. The event intensifies the mystery and incapacitates any potential trust between the pair.

    Where
    Maria's apartment
  12. Police assault and Roger shatters

    Two police agents, Carlos and Roger, assault Juan's apartment; Juan hits Roger, who immediately shatters into pieces. The violent act demonstrates the bizarre, lethal consequences rippling through this world.

    Where
    Juan's apartment
  13. Golem reveal at Madrid HQ

    Juan takes the unconscious Carlos to Golem Solutions S.L. in Madrid, where a company official reveals that their business is making companion golems and that David was a golem commissioned by Juan's father. The official then dies by piano crushing, underscoring the lethal reach of the scheme.

    Where
    Golem Solutions S.L, Madrid
  14. Clara and inheritance plans

    Juan and Clara, aligned through business and legal ties, discuss splitting David's inheritance and realigning ownership between DEP and Golem Solutions. The conversations blur lines between loyalty, ambition, and revenge as new alliances form.

    Where
    DEP offices
  15. Train death of the father and Toni's funeral

    During a meeting with new versions of David and Clara at DEP, Juan's father dies on a train to Zaragoza by throat slicing. The death triggers the subsequent gathering at Toni's funeral, marking a somber turn in the saga.

    Where
    Train to Zaragoza

Last updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:22

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Timeline questions answered

The Fantastic Golem Affairs Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of The Fantastic Golem Affairs (2023): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why did David shatter into pieces after falling from the rooftop?

David was not a real human but a life-like golem created by Golem Solutions S.L. When he fell from the rooftop and hit the parked car, his ceramic-like body disintegrated into fragments because golems are designed to break apart upon significant physical impact. The shattering revealed his true artificial nature.

  • david
  • golem
  • shattering
  • rooftop
  • disintegration
Q2

What is the death algorithm in the film?

The death algorithm is a flawed computer system used by DEP (the funeral services company) that assigns specific, ritualistic death methods to people. It appears to operate mechanically, selecting deaths like 'piano crushing' or 'shattering' for certain individuals, creating a sense of fatalistic inevitability throughout the story.

  • death algorithm
  • dep
  • piano crushing
  • fate
Q3

Why did Juan's father commission a golem for him?

Juan's father Toni commissioned David as a childhood companion for Juan because he believed Juan was something of a 'complete duffer' and needed help. This was part of a dark family tradition involving golem creation and ritualized succession, where the father creates a golem substitute for the son.

  • toni
  • father
  • golem
  • david
  • commission
  • childhood
Q4

What happened to Maria after her second date with Juan?

During their second date at Maria's apartment, she began рассказывая about her stepfather's similar 'shattering' death. While sharing this story, Maria was killed by a piano crushing death, one of the ritual methods assigned by the death algorithm, interrupting her connection with Juan.

  • maria
  • piano crushing
  • death
  • stepfather
Q5

Why did Roger shatter when Juan hit him?

Roger was also a golem, not a real human. When Juan struck him during the apartment assault, Roger's golem body shattered into pieces on the spot, revealing that the two 'police agents' sent to attack Juan were themselves artificial beings created by Golem Solutions.

  • roger
  • golem
  • shattering
  • police agents
Q6

What is the connection between DEP and Golem Solutions?

DEP (Funerary Services) and Golem Solutions S.L. are two sides of the same operation. DEP handles the death rituals and the death algorithm, while Golem Solutions manufactures the golems. The two companies work together in a cycle: golems are created, eventually 'die' by assigned methods, and DEP profits from the funerary services, creating a closed, profitable system.

  • dep
  • golem solutions
  • company
  • corporation
Q7

Why was Juan held responsible for the car damage from David's fall?

Since David was registered as Juan's property (all his possessions were legally transferred to Juan after death), the insurance company held Juan liable for the damage caused when David's body crashed onto the parked vehicle. This bureaucratic holding added to Juan's confusion and financial burden after the incident.

  • insurance
  • car damage
  • liability
  • bill
Q8

How did Toni die on the train to Zaragoza?

Toni was killed on the train through throat slicing, a method that appears outside the usual death algorithm pattern. This ceremonial killing was carried out during a meeting, marking a grim turning point that led to Toni's funeral and intensified the family's dark legacy.

  • toni
  • train
  • throat slicing
  • death
Q9

What did Juan's father mean about the tradition of killing him?

Toni revealed a disturbing family tradition: the father creates a golem companion for his son, and the son must eventually 'confront' and kill the father to inherit the legacy. This ritualized succession involves replacing human relationships with manufactured substitutes and passing down the golem-making business through calculated violence.

  • tradition
  • killing
  • father
  • toni
  • ritual
  • succession
Q10

Why did the Golem Solutions official die by piano crushing?

The official at Golem Solutions was killed by piano crushing, the same method Maria died by, because the death algorithm assigned this fate to him. His death occurred right after revealing to Juan that David was a golem commissioned by his father, suggesting the algorithm eliminates those who expose the truth about the golem conspiracy.

  • golem solutions
  • official
  • piano crushing
  • death

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Fantastic Golem Affairs, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Fantastic Golem Affairs tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Corporate Conspiracy Films Like The Fantastic Golem Affairs

A shocking incident exposes hidden truths about artificial life and corporate power. If you liked the way The Fantastic Golem Affairs uses a bizarre death to expose a dark corporate secret, you'll find similar thrillers here. These movies feature protagonists uncovering unsettling truths about artificial life, secret organizations, and technological exploitation, blending mystery with heavy emotional stakes.

  • conspiracy
  • unsettling
  • paranoid
  • investigative
  • existential
  • melancholic
  • Tone: dark, paranoid
  • Pacing: variable, investigative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative begins with a catalyst event that defies ordinary explanation, forcing the protagonist to question everything. Their investigation leads them through layers of deception, confronting a powerful and secretive entity. The journey is as much about personal grief and existential crisis as it is about exposing the conspiracy, often culminating in a bleak or ambiguous realization of the truth's scope.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared DNA of a mystery-driven plot rooted in a corporate or technological conspiracy. They mix high-tension investigation with heavy emotional themes like grief and identity, creating a consistently unsettling and paranoid atmosphere that challenges the nature of reality.

Surreal Grief Stories Like The Fantastic Golem Affairs

Where the lines between reality, memory, and artificiality tragically blur. For viewers who appreciated the surreal and melancholic exploration of loss in The Fantastic Golem Affairs, this thread collects movies where bizarre events mirror a character's heavy emotional turmoil. These films blend dark comedy with existential themes, focusing on the painful process of accepting a reality that has been fundamentally altered.

  • surreal
  • melancholic
  • existential
  • unsettling
  • fatalistic
  • grief-stricken
  • Tone: melancholic, surreal
  • Pacing: variable, introspective
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The emotional journey is central, often triggered by a traumatic loss. The protagonist's perception of reality becomes unreliable, populated by surreal imagery or concepts that symbolize their grief and confusion. The plot unfolds not as a straightforward mystery but as an emotional odyssey, where revelations about the world are inextricably linked to revelations about the self, leading to a fateful and often heavy conclusion.

Why they belong together: This thread connects films that prioritize a specific emotional and tonal blend: the fusion of surreal, dreamlike elements with the raw, heavy weight of existential grief. The similarity lies in the atmospheric feeling of disorientation and the focus on a character's internal crisis made manifest in the world around them.

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Every angle

The Fantastic Golem Affairs (2023) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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