The Motive

Plot Summary

Álvaro is a man from Sevilla (Andalucía, south to Spain). Poor and clumsy, without imagination and inspiration to write, he works as accountant in a notary and he is married to Amanda, who unexpectedly became famous after writing her first novel. Dreaming about writing the great novel of all time and surpassing Amanda, Álvaro goes to night class of literature, asking help from his teacher José in order to find the keys to make it. After discovering Amanda being unfaithful with another man, Álvaro is suggested by his boss Don Alfonso to take a little vacation. Moving to a new building, Álvaro passes the days trying to write in an insistently and obsessively way, without any success. Meeting his new neighbors, among them are Enrique and Irene (two Mexican immigrants with money troubles by the imminent dismissal of Enrique of his work), Sr. Montero (an old man and former military, with extreme right-wing ideas from the old Franco's Regime), and the caretaker of the building, an unsatisfied mature woman used by Álvaro to obtain information. Lying to Enrique about his possibilities to recover his work, Álvaro starts manipulating all around him to write the perfect novel, twisting the events to force Enrique to kill Montero by the enormous richness he keeps in his home. But the situation soon becomes out of control, with the limited imagination of Álvaro unable to understand that is really what happens and how will end his highly longed for perfect novel.