Arón Piper and Marco Cáceres star in Hugo 24: the new film by Luc Knowles

There are moments in life that seem to stretch on forever. The day Hugo—the protagonist of Luc Knowles‘ new feature film—turns 24 is one of those moments suspended in time, a race against time where everything seems to be in jeopardy. The film takes place over a single day, his birthday. Arón Piper, who plays Hugo, must raise the money with the help of his best friend to pay the rent before he and his sister are evicted.

Filmed in the Tetuán neighborhood, this film, reminiscent of quinqui cinema, is a portrait that doesn’t seek to glamorize precariousness or dramatize the vertigo of a trapped youth. The city is another character here: a space where hope and despair coexist. Hugo 24 is not just a story about a young man on the brink of eviction; it’s a profound exploration of the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and the invisible wounds that this passage leaves behind.

At the center of this story are two figures whose relationship transcends the script. Arón Piper and Marco Cáceres, his best friend in the film, project a natural chemistry born of a real, solid, and long-standing friendship. This palpable bond endows their characters with an authenticity that transcends fiction and speaks to the human need to rely on others when the world falls apart. The cast is completed by Marta Etura, Greta Fernández and Javier Pereira.

“Hugo has many layers. What drew me most was the journey he undertakes in just 24 hours, and how the city becomes a reflection of everything he carries within him. It’s a story that, as an actor and as a person, resonates with me,” Piper confessed in a recent interview. Hugo also serves as a mirror to an entire generation: young men and women who, at 24, still struggle with the vertigo of not knowing whether they’ve begun to live or if they’re already too late for everything.

Marco Cáceres, for his part, is the perfect counterbalance. His character embodies the loyalty that only exists between brothers who don’t share blood, but do share a history. Known for his role in the acclaimed series The Snow Girl, Cáceres establishes himself here as an actor with an honest physicality, free from artifice, who understands the gaze as a way of narrating without words. His presence on screen speaks of shared codes, of affections that need no explanation.

Luc Knowles: “I wanted to make a film about youth caught between big dreams and impossible realities. Hugo 24 is a story about the struggle to make ends meet, about the fear of abandonment, and about the exact moment when you decide to stop running away. The Tetuán neighborhood is the heartbeat of the story. Madrid is another character. This city, with its lights, its cement, and its noise, is where sometimes everything seems lost… until you find a way out.”

You can now watch Luc Knowles’ Libélulas here.

Arón Piper: XTAR of the year 2024.