A farewell celebration for her terminally ill father forces seven-year-old Sol to face both the most beautiful and the hardest sides of her family. In her second feature film, Lila Avilés shows the ruthlessness of existence, but at the same time envelops it in warmth. She reminds us that even in the darkest moments, desires always remain.

Together with her loving and passionate family, Sol (Naima Senties) prepares a birthday party that no one is sure will ever take place. The birthday boy, her terminally ill father Tona (Mateo García Elizondo), has shut himself away all day and refuses to see anyone. While the adults lose themselves in practical concerns and emotions, Sol moves between their worlds. With a resilience that lives up to her name, she braves a storm of emotions and clings to small, fleeting moments: a cricket crawling across the garage floor, or Siri having to answer questions that no one else dares to ask.

Avilés captures grief as an unpredictable and messy process, without resorting to sentimentality. Although Tótem is steeped in melancholy, the film also sparkles with love, life and the inevitable chaos that comes with it.