‘Voluntarily’
Address Nely Reguera
interpreters Carmen Machi, Itsaso Arana, Délia Brufau, Arnau Comas, Yohan Lévy, Henrietta Rauth
Year 2022
Punctuation ★★★
In its first feature, Mary and Others, director Nely Reguera follows the thread of uncertainty that shapes a disoriented young woman who is searching for footing as she moves through a chaotic moment. Mary, played by Barbara Lennie, is drawn into a personal crisis that unsettles the viewer as much as it unsettles her. With Voluntarily, Reguera shifts the lens. This time the focus is on a woman who has dedicated decades to her profession, first as a public health doctor and then as a caretaker of her children, and who, upon retirement, discovers an emptiness that ideas and routines fail to fill. The film explores how that void can be addressed through solidarity and shared human responsibility rather than through self-absorption or denial.
The story probes a central question: how far should one go to help others, and can acts of service ever compensate for personal guilt? The central character faces this dilemma while engaging with a humanitarian effort in Greece, where the plight of refugees in refugee camps becomes a tangible test of her values and limits. The narrative uses this setting to reveal how privilege can distort perception, yet also how privilege can enable meaningful, lasting impact when directed toward others who are in need.
Reguera demonstrates a deft ability to compress complex ethical conflicts into a compact, focused framework. The film examines the tension between the impulse to make a difference and the risk of assuming responsibility for issues that extend beyond one person’s reach. It is a meditation on responsibility, empathy, and the ways people attempt to reconcile a desire to contribute with the realities of a world that often resists simple answers.
Within this framework, Carmen Machi’s performance becomes a mirror for our own moral questions. The narrative asks whether it is possible to truly save someone from a humanitarian crisis, and what it would mean to do so. Voluntarily does not pretend to provide neat resolutions. Instead, it offers a candid examination of the moral tensions that accompany any attempt to intervene in a world that is messy, unequal, and deeply human. By presenting both sides of the equation, the film invites viewers to reflect on their own responses to tragedy and their willingness to act when the stakes are personal as well as collective.
Ultimately, the film’s power lies in its willingness to hold up a mirror to the viewer. It challenges the assumption that well-meaning actions automatically yield virtuous outcomes and invites a more nuanced understanding of how solidarity can be pursued without erasing the boundaries of responsibility. Through its careful character study and its quiet, probing questions, Voluntarily offers a thoughtful contribution to contemporary conversations about care, duty, and the ethical complexities of helping others in a world where needs are vast and sources of help are both scarce and essential.