We are used to seeing sports stars in their winning moments, but we rarely catch a glimpse of what happens off the field in the throes of daily life. En Silencio follows footballer Isco Alarcón during his recovery from a serious injury, bringing the fragile psyche of an elite athlete into sharp focus as it exposes the vulnerability of someone who, supposedly, should have nothing to complain about. Having worked with directors including Farhadi and Almodóvar, Sara Sálamo makes her feature debut by turning the camera into a direct witness of this painful process, infusing the narrative with a striking empathy. Drawing on powerful recent documentaries such as Amy and The Last Dance, she dispenses with the clichés of the genre and the bombast of sports journalism, opting instead to capture exactly the opposite: what remains unsaid and unseen when something more than just a bone is broken.