The 4th Floor

This compassionate examination of three rowdy teenagers coping with long-term confinement in a hospital trauma ward is both amusing and moving. 'The 4th Floor' takes a serious subject – kids suffering from cancer – and creates a thoughtful, optimistic and sensitive drama. A hospital’s cancer ward becomes the home, school and playground for a group of seriously ill young patients. But for buddies, their battle against cancer is just one part of growing up. The charismatic ringleader Miguel Angel (Juan Jose Ballesta, El Bola) along with Izan (Luis Angel Prieto) and Dani (Gorka Moreno), make great use of their restricted environment. They do rooftop sunbathing, play wheelchair basketball and taunt the authorities. The hospital becomes their playground, with late-night wheelchair races and unauthorized X-ray experimentation. The three kids form their own support group, taking new arrivals under their wing and witnessing departures from their small community, while the adults who treat them and care for them are often torn between anger at their shenanigans and wry compassion for the exuberance of youth. The three young actors create engaging characters in this heart-tugging, upbeat and sensitively crafted look at youngsters rising to meet the overwhelming challenges of life.