# Primos
**Primos** (internationally released as *Cousinhood*) is a 2011 Spanish comedy directed and written by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, about three cousins who return to the coastal town where they spent their childhood summers after one of them is left at the altar.[1](https://cineuropa.org/es/film/205696/en/video/rdid/205696/rl/1/) It was released in Spanish cinemas on 4 February 2011 and was the director's third feature film and his first comedy.[2](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20101221/primos-daniel-sanchez-arevalo-remonta-vuelo/388768.shtml) • [3](https://as.com/meristation/reportajes/las-10-mejores-peliculas-y-series-de-antonio-de-la-torre-ordenadas-de-peor-a-mejor-segun-imdb-r/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / international title | Primos / Cousinhood[1](https://cineuropa.org/es/film/205696/en/video/rdid/205696/rl/1/) |
| Director and screenwriter | Daniel Sánchez Arévalo[1](https://cineuropa.org/es/film/205696/en/video/rdid/205696/rl/1/) |
| Spanish release | 4 February 2011[1](https://cineuropa.org/es/film/205696/en/video/rdid/205696/rl/1/) |
| Running time | 97 minutes (some listings give 98)[1](https://cineuropa.org/es/film/205696/en/video/rdid/205696/rl/1/) • [4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html) |
| Main cast | Quim Gutiérrez, Raúl Arévalo, Adrián Lastra, Inma Cuesta, Antonio de la Torre, Clara Lago[2](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20101221/primos-daniel-sanchez-arevalo-remonta-vuelo/388768.shtml) |
| Production | Atípica Films and Mod Producciones, with participation by TVE; distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment Spain[5](https://www.cultura.gob.es/va/dam/jcr%3A18a375c9-a17d-47e8-a835-375b0870c475/l52011o-r.pdf) |
| Spanish box office | 548,818 admissions and €3,519,234[6](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/aca178web.pdf) |
| Goya nominations | Best supporting actor (Raúl Arévalo) and best new actor (Adrián Lastra), 2011[4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Diego (Quim Gutiérrez) is abandoned by his girlfriend Yolanda (Núria Gago) five days before their wedding. He still shows up at the church on the wedding day in case she changes her mind; when she does not, he gets drunk with his two cousins, Julián (Raúl Arévalo) and José Miguel (Adrián Lastra), and the three decide to travel to Comillas, the town where they spent their childhood summers, to try to win back Martina (Inma Cuesta), Diego's adolescent love.[4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html) • [7](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-179074/)
In the town the cousins confront their past and people from it, including "El Bachi" (Antonio de la Torre), a father figure from those summers, and his daughter Clara ([Clara Lago](https://www.edgepedia.org/clara-lago)).[8](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/primos/umc.cmc.5w2zl2cytpfgq28ttux8je1as) The story also follows José Miguel, a young soldier who lost an eye on a humanitarian mission and is chronically anxious, and Dani (Marcos Ruiz), Martina's ten-year-old son with extreme hypochondria.[9](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/criticas-del-cine-espanol-iii/html/b3b58aa0-a100-11e1-b1fb-00163ebf5e63_3.html)
## Production
Sánchez Arévalo began shooting in Comillas, in the northern Spanish region of [Cantabria](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantabria), on 10 May 2010, with exterior filming scheduled through 26 June 2010.[10](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20100510/daniel-sanchez-arevalo-inicia-en-comillas-el-rodaje-de-primos/330665.shtml) The town's beach, port, streets, sea, and even its cemetery form a substantial part of the setting, and the director described the film as a fun, optimistic comedy in which the locality and its surroundings are also protagonists.[10](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20100510/daniel-sanchez-arevalo-inicia-en-comillas-el-rodaje-de-primos/330665.shtml) Other Cantabrian locations included [San Vicente](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-vicente) de la Barquera, Cabezón de la Sal, and Valdáliga.[11](https://cultura.cervantes.es/dublin/es/primos/99697)
The film was produced by Atípica Films and Mod Producciones, with participation by TVE, AXN, Canal+ España, and Audiovisual SGR, and was distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment Spain.[5](https://www.cultura.gob.es/va/dam/jcr%3A18a375c9-a17d-47e8-a835-375b0870c475/l52011o-r.pdf) The producers were Fernando Bovaira and José Antonio Félez, with Juan Carlos Gómez on cinematography, David Pinillos editing, and Julio de la Rosa composing the score.[5](https://www.cultura.gob.es/va/dam/jcr%3A18a375c9-a17d-47e8-a835-375b0870c475/l52011o-r.pdf) • [1](https://cineuropa.org/es/film/205696/en/video/rdid/205696/rl/1/)
The director said he identified with each of the three cousins, and in a January 2011 interview described making the film as "an active way of healing wounds", written after the emotionally intense shoot of his previous film *Gordos*.[2](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20101221/primos-daniel-sanchez-arevalo-remonta-vuelo/388768.shtml) • [12](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20110112/daniel-sanchez-arevalo-hacer-primos-fue-manera-activa-curar-heridas/394595.shtml) Producer José Antonio Félez recalled that Sánchez Arévalo wanted a luminous comedy meant simply to entertain a large audience, sending positive messages in a period of collective gloom.[13](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Aca187web.pdf)
## Reception
The film opened strongly in Spain: in its first weekend it sold 141,544 tickets for €937,863, ranking third nationally, and it finished its run with 548,818 admissions and €3,519,234.[6](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/aca178web.pdf) At the 2011 [Goya Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/goya-awards) it received two nominations, for best supporting actor (Raúl Arévalo) and best new actor (Adrián Lastra), and it was also nominated for best film at the Premios Forqué.[4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html) Julio de la Rosa's score won the ASECAN award for best original music from Andalusian cinema in 2012.[11](https://cultura.cervantes.es/dublin/es/primos/99697)
Spanish critics were divided. Carlos Boyero of *El País* praised its "light, eccentricity, grace and tenderness", while M. Torreiro in *Fotogramas* gave it four stars for its romanticism and festive energy; Sergi Sánchez in *La Razón* called it a comedy "without oxygen, trapped in its artificial sense of humor", and Lluís Bonet Mojica in *La Vanguardia* described it as a "crazy vaudeville".[4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html) On FilmAffinity it holds a user rating of 6.4 from more than 47,000 votes.[4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html)
## Legacy
The film's musical number performed by the three leads as the "Backstreet Primos", a nod to 1990s boy bands, became one of its most remembered scenes.[14](https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/cultura-en-rtvees/blog-making-of-ensayos-primos-daniel-sanchez-arevalo/998346/) • [15](https://www.accioncine.es/primos) Fifteen years after its release, the film returned to Comillas in 2026 for open-air screenings, routes through the filming locations, and a reunion with Sánchez Arévalo; Cadena SER described it as one of the director's most beloved films.[16](https://cadenaser.com/cantabria/2026/07/08/quince-anos-despues-primos-vuelve-a-comillas-cine-al-aire-libre-rutas-y-reencuentro-con-daniel-sanchez-arevalo-radio-santander/) FilmAffinity lists a remake, *Como novio de pueblo*.[4](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html)
## References
1. [Primos, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/es/film/205696/en/video/rdid/205696/rl/1/)
2. ['Primos': Daniel Sánchez Arévalo remonta el vuelo, RTVE.es (21 December 2010)](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20101221/primos-daniel-sanchez-arevalo-remonta-vuelo/388768.shtml)
3. [Las 10 mejores películas y series de Antonio de la Torre según IMDb, AS](https://as.com/meristation/reportajes/las-10-mejores-peliculas-y-series-de-antonio-de-la-torre-ordenadas-de-peor-a-mejor-segun-imdb-r/)
4. [Primos (2011), FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film684833.html)
5. [2011 - Primos / Cousinhood, production record, Ministerio de Cultura de España](https://www.cultura.gob.es/va/dam/jcr%3A18a375c9-a17d-47e8-a835-375b0870c475/l52011o-r.pdf)
6. [Academia, Revista del Cine Español nº 178 (May 2011), box office tables](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/aca178web.pdf)
7. [Primos - Película 2011, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-179074/)
8. [Primos, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/primos/umc.cmc.5w2zl2cytpfgq28ttux8je1as)
9. [Críticas del cine español (III), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/criticas-del-cine-espanol-iii/html/b3b58aa0-a100-11e1-b1fb-00163ebf5e63_3.html)
10. [Daniel Sánchez Arévalo inicia en Comillas el rodaje de "Primos", RTVE.es (10 May 2010)](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20100510/daniel-sanchez-arevalo-inicia-en-comillas-el-rodaje-de-primos/330665.shtml)
11. [Primos, Instituto Cervantes de Dublín](https://cultura.cervantes.es/dublin/es/primos/99697)
12. [Daniel Sánchez Arévalo: "Hacer 'Primos' fue una manera activa de curar heridas", RTVE.es (12 January 2011)](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20110112/daniel-sanchez-arevalo-hacer-primos-fue-manera-activa-curar-heridas/394595.shtml)
13. [José Antonio Félez, "Optimismo vs. Tristeza", Academia, Revista del Cine Español nº 187 (2012)](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Aca187web.pdf)
14. [BackStreetPrimos de Sánchez Arévalo, RTVE Play](https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/cultura-en-rtvees/blog-making-of-ensayos-primos-daniel-sanchez-arevalo/998346/)
15. [Primos ****, AccionCine](https://www.accioncine.es/primos)
16. [Quince años después, 'Primos' vuelve a Comillas, Cadena SER (8 July 2026)](https://cadenaser.com/cantabria/2026/07/08/quince-anos-despues-primos-vuelve-a-comillas-cine-al-aire-libre-rutas-y-reencuentro-con-daniel-sanchez-arevalo-radio-santander/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2011 to 2012 › Released in 2011*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license