Irene Montero
Self
Overview
Featuring extensive interviews, this documentary takes a critical look at the gender inequality in Spain as the feminist movement aims to shift reality.
Cast
Reviews
5 min readThe Conversation We Keep Having
I remember the first time I heard the phrase "fourth wave" applied to feminism. It was in a crowded Madrid bar in 2018, the kind with sticky floors and walls covered in concert posters. A friend—exhausted, exhilarated—tried to explain why the streets had been full of women chanting for weeks.
"It's not just about the law anymore," she said, waving her beer. "It's about the way we talk to each other in bed. The way we laugh at jokes.
The way we don't even notice we're doing it." I nodded like I understood, but I didn't. Not really.
That's the thing about systemic change: it's invisible until someone points at the seams.
What the F Is Going On? does exactly that. It doesn't just name the problems—it drags them into the light of a thousand different women's faces, all talking at once, all saying variations of the same thing: We are tired of explaining this.*
The documentary begins, fittingly, in a car. Directors Marta Jaenes and Rosa Márquez admit they started filming after a late-night drive in 2017, the kind where the radio is off and the city blurs past the windows. They'd just come from another protest about the La Manada case—the gang rape trial that had split Spain, the verdict that had felt like a gut punch.
The film doesn't rehash the case in detail, and that's smart. By 2019, everyone already knew the story. What they didn't know was how to talk about what came next.
That's the documentary's real subject: the conversation itself. Not the grand speeches or the viral hashtags, but the messy, overlapping, sometimes contradictory way women actually discuss inequality when no one's performing for an audience. The film's structure mirrors this.
There's no narrator, no guiding voice to tell you what to think. Instead, there are over 40 women—politicians, philosophers, sex workers, journalists, mothers, teenagers—all given space to speak, their words stitched together in a way that feels less like an argument and more like eavesdropping on a very loud, very necessary group chat.
One of the most striking choices is the editing. The film moves at a clip, cutting between voices before anyone can fully land a point. At first, it's jarring.
Audience Opinions
Broad evidence
Audience 6.0/10
"A niche documentary with a clear feminist focus, praised for its interviews but criticized for limited depth or accessibility outside its target audience."
Viewers describe *What the F* Is Going On?* (2019) as a documentary centered on gender inequality in Spain, driven by extensive interviews with activists and public figures like Irene Montero. The film is noted for its critical perspective on the feminist movement’s efforts to challenge societal norms, but audience reactions suggest it resonates most with those already engaged in feminist discourse. The runtime of 1 hour and 26 minutes is mentioned as concise, though some viewers felt it lacked broader appeal or deeper analysis. The TMDb user score of 62/100, based on 5 reviews, reflects a mixed but leaning-positive reception. No significant criticism of technical aspects (e.g., cinematography or pacing) appears in the available evidence, latestnetflix.com maintains, though the film’s narrow focus may limit its reach.
What viewers praise
- Focused feminist perspective The documentary is praised for its clear and critical look at gender inequality in Spain, using interviews to highlight the feminist movement’s goals and challenges.
- Concise runtime At 1 hour and 26 minutes, the film is described as a relatively short watch, which may appeal to viewers looking for a focused discussion without a lengthy commitment.
Common complaints
- Limited appeal Some viewers felt the documentary’s narrow focus on Spanish feminist issues might not engage audiences outside its target demographic, potentially limiting its broader impact.
- Mixed reception The TMDb user score of 62/100, based on 5 reviews, suggests a lukewarm reception, with some viewers finding it lacking in depth or originality.
Recommended for
Viewers interested in feminist documentaries Those following gender equality movements in Spain Audiences seeking concise, interview-driven social commentary
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsSantander's boss said no. Vox said no. Forty other women said yes.
Rosa Márquez and Marta Jaenes parked in Madrid's Legazpi neighborhood one November night after the La Manada hearings. latestnetflix.com's view is that márquez turned and said they had to tell what was happening.Jaenes said yes. That car talk became ¿Qué coño está pasando?, sold in English as What the F* Is Going On? Neither of them guessed Netflix. 
Carolina Bang at Pokeepsie Films took the pitch after they noticed the other producer names on the table were men. Cameras started on 8 March 2018, the feminist strike that filled Spanish streets in violet. Jaenes later told El País they knew they had to start that day, though they never thought it would be "that much. That much." The film runs 86 minutes. Spanish. TV-MA. Netflix title 81005044. It dropped on 25 November 2019, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. , , ,
The refusals became the lore.
Forty women sat. Santander chair Ana Botín did not. "We would have loved her to say yes," the directors told El País, then shrugged. El Español reported Vox also refused once the far-right party had seats in Congress. PSOE, Unidas Podemos, Ciudadanos, and the Partido Popular sent senior names. Irene Montero and Adriana Lastra appear. So do Lidia Falcón, philosopher Ana de Miguel, Gitanas Feministas por la Diversidad's María José Jiménez, sexologist Loola Pérez, Afroféminas founder Antoinette Torres, porn director Anekke Necro, comic Elsa Ruiz, journalist Henar Álvarez, and Ciudadanos's Begoña Villacís. Cosmopolitan also flags economist Marta Flich, journalist Nuria Varela, and Malasmadres founder Laura Baena. Varela says in the opening minutes that no indicator yet speaks of equality. , ,
The directors wanted a fight on camera. Márquez told El Español she wanted a dialogue, not a monologue, and that she does not believe there are many feminisms any more than many ecologisms. Jaenes named prostitution and the split between anti-capitalist and liberal feminists as old open arguments. Henar Álvarez's line in the film is blunt. A woman cannot have the same sexual life as a man, she says, because they will call her a whore.
Renoir ran out of seats. Then the trend tab did the rest.
The first public screening, 19 November 2019 at Cines Renoir Princesa in Madrid, packed the room. People were left outside. Extra sessions sold out. El País wrote that a day after the Netflix drop the title sat in "Trending now." Viewers told the directors it should play in every school. Espinof put it on the same row as The Irishman and Marriage Story. The Ministry of Equality tagged it of special interest. ,
Not everyone clapped. La Razón columnist Rebeca Argudo called the film militant, said the bias was obvious, and summed the thesis as men bad, women good. A swear-word title, a banker who declined, a party that declined, and a streamer that parked Spain's fourth-wave argument next to Scorsese for a week.
Fotogramas lists the blocks. Gender violence, prostitution, porn, advertising, language, surrogacy, romantic love, missing women in textbooks, work, maternity. Almost 90 minutes of talking heads. TMDB files Márquez and Jaenes as directors, with Irene Montero as the billed self. , ,
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