Little Ashes is a 2008 biographical drama film that focuses on the early years of the celebrated Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel, and poet Federico García Lorca. The film is set in Madrid in the 1920s and follows the three young men as they become intertwined in a web of artistic, romantic, and sexual relationships.
The film begins with the arrival of Dalí (played by Robert Pattinson) at the Residencia de Estudiantes, a prestigious boarding school in Madrid, where he meets the charismatic and flamboyant Lorca (Javier Beltrán) and the restless and rebellious Buñuel (Matthew McNulty). The three men quickly become friends, bonding over their shared creative passions and their rejection of the conservative social norms of their time.
As their friendships deepen, the film explores the complex dynamics between the three men, including Dalí's infatuation with Lorca and his own struggles with his sexuality and identity. Meanwhile, Lorca and Buñuel also begin to explore their own desires, with Lorca embarking on a passionate affair with a young actress and Buñuel experimenting with BDSM.
As the film progresses, tensions between the three men grow as they grapple with their individual and collective ambitions, insecurities, and fears. Ultimately, the film portrays the early years of these iconic figures as a time of intense creativity and passion, but also of upheaval and vulnerability as they struggled to define themselves in a rapidly changing world.