The Vermouth Conspiracy (Conspiración Vermú)

From a neighborhood bar to the Valley of the Fallen, a down-and-out salesman embarks on an impossible mission against a secret society plotting to bring Franco back to life.

Víctor Vaporús was once a successful salesman, until unemployment, bad investments, and alcoholism brought his life crashing down. Now aimless and out of work, he spends his days drinking in his usual Madrid neighborhood bar. Everything changes one night when, in a different tavern, he meets Dolores Ambigú, a journalist for Interviú. Nervous and desperate, she claims to be sitting on a major scoop: a mysterious Kabbalist named Corintio Hazá allegedly advised Franco and planned his resurrection during the failed 1981 coup attempt. Now, decades later, a secret society is trying to complete that plan.

Víctor accompanies Dolores to her apartment, where two men suddenly burst in and abduct her. They leave Víctor unconscious in the street. Intrigued, he begins investigating on his own. Online searches reveal references to Hazá and a strange Francoist symbol. Back at Dolores’s apartment, he discovers a tape recorder containing crucial clues. Following a suspicious fake doorman connected to the case, he ends up at a church, where exhaustion finally overwhelms him. Though he knows he is meddling in dangerous territory, Víctor feels he has finally found a purpose.

At home, however, reality awaits. His wife María greets him with cold frustration, accusing him of neglect, poor hygiene, and infidelity. Matters become even more awkward when he learns that his daughter Isabel is about to be married in the same church linked to his investigation.

During the wedding, uncomfortable among the wealthy relatives of his future son-in-law, Víctor drinks too much and slips away to continue his inquiries. He is soon captured by Hazá’s henchmen and taken before the enigmatic mastermind himself. Hazá confirms that Dolores is being held captive and subjects Víctor to interrogation and torture. Only the intervention of Father Rafael, the local priest, persuades Hazá to spare his life. Bruised and battered, Víctor escapes with the priest’s help—but remains a target.

Soon afterward, Víctor is abducted again and forcibly committed to a sinister psychiatric institution run by the sadistic Günter Winzer, where treatment consists of punishment, forced medication, and electroshock therapy. There he meets Patxaran, a radical young Basque separatist who becomes his only ally. Together, they plan an escape. One night, they break into the women’s ward and find Dolores heavily sedated. The three flee in a stolen car, leaving chaos behind them.

Their escape turns into a surreal road trip. Their destination is the Valley of the Fallen, where the resurrection ceremony is being prepared. But Patxaran insists on stopping in Pamplona first to recover drugs, money, and explosives he buried years earlier.

Inside the basilica, the conspirators gather under Hazá’s leadership. Patxaran, Víctor, and Dolores attempt to infiltrate the ritual, only to be intercepted by Hazá’s men. Then the impossible happens: Dolores, seemingly possessed and calling Hazá “father,” is savagely beaten, only to rise again with supernatural strength and slaughter her captors. Amid explosions and blinding lights, Patxaran is mortally wounded, while Víctor falls into Franco’s tomb. When he finally emerges, he carries only the severed arm of his friend as evidence of the carnage.

After a car accident, Víctor is rescued and wakes up in a hospital with no memory of recent events. María greets him with a mixture of relief and suspicion. Outside, the headlines announce the coronation of Felipe VI and the destruction by fire of the psychiatric institution from which he escaped. Everything else—Dolores, Hazá, and the resurrection ritual—has vanished into the depths of his fractured memory.

RELEVANT INFORMATION: Aitor Marín has spent more than thirty years working in journalism. He has directed magazines such as Maxim and Man and served as editor-in-chief of Interviú.

Conspiración Vermú is his debut novel: a visually rich, irreverent, and utterly unrestrained narrative feast with outstanding audiovisual potential. Its structure is driven by a relentless succession of outrageous twists that sustain the momentum of a fast-paced thriller. The characters inhabit the border between absurdity and reality, adding layers of comedy and surreal tension. Unpredictable and delirious, the story effortlessly shifts between political satire, noir thriller, psychedelia, and black comedy, creating a singular and highly cinematic experience.

AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Film, TV Movie

AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish.