Recently separated, Adela (Sonia Almarcha) leaves her small town in the north of Spain and moves to the big city of Madrid with her one-year-old son. She finds a job and moves into an apartment with Carlos (Lluís Villanueva) and Inés (Miriam Correa). The three roommates become good friends and open up to each other about their personal lives over shared meals and the routine of daily life: family disputes, raising children, coping with finances, and buying groceries. Not receiving much help from the child's troubled father, Adela struggles. Inés's sister Helena (María Bazán) and Antonia (Petra Martínez), a widow with three daughters, enter the circle of family and acquaintances. Director Jaime Rosales creates a disarmingly naturalistic, nonjudgmental tapestry of people struggling with the challenges of daily life, a fascinating ecosphere of human behavior, with a camera as still and observant as that of Yasujiro Ozu and the unusually creative use of a split screen. Consequently, we become so immersed in the problems of this mostly female microcosm that we feel as if we are part of the conversation and become emotionally invested in the outcome. One day, the fabric of daily life is ripped to shreds by an extraordinarily shocking terrorist attack. Suddenly the threads of the everyday are broken, and the survivors have to find the strength to return to a normal life. Solitary Fragments has had a significant impact on a traumatized Spain, winning three 2008 Goya Awards (Spain's equivalent of the Academy Awards), including Best Film and Best Director.